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THE WILDERNESS ROAD 
TO KENTUCKY 




The Pinnacle t'rdni ( 'unilierland (iap 



THE WILDERNESS ROAD 
TO KENTUCKY 

ITS LOCATION AND FEATURES 

BY 
WM. ALLEN PUSEY, A.AL, M.D. 



■56 Ilhistraiions 
IX Maps 



NEW ^S§W YORK 
GEORGE IL DORAN CO.MPANY 






COPVRIGHT. 1921, BY 

GEORGE H DORAX CUMPA.W 



0)C!.A661303 
APR 15(922 



T(1 

WILLIAM JJROWN THE PIONEER 

AND TO 

HIS SOX 
ALFRED .M. BROWN 

MY GRAXDI'ATHEK 

IN WHOSE MEMORY THIS INVESTIGATION 

OF THE LOCATION OF 

THE WILDERNESS ROAD WAS MADP: 



Preface 

IBECA^IE interested in the location of the "Wilderness Road 
through ownership of William Brown's journal of the road, which 
I inherited from my grandfather, Alfred ^I. Brown, William Brown's 
youngest son. To my surprise I found that in the accessible literature 
only the most meagre details concerning its location are available. 
The Road had l)een imjiortant enough, it seemed to me, to warrant 
a record of its accurate location, and I accordingly undertook to 
make this. Into the undertaking I have put many trips over various 
parts of the road. It has refjuired vastly more effort than I expected, 
but it has proved an interesting and stimulating diversion. This 
investigation was made in 1919, 19'-20 and 19'21. 

The location which I have given it has lieen based, for the most 
part, upcm actual examination of the road itself. I have not attem])t- 
ed to make an extensive examination of historical manuscrij)ts, but 
it has hai)pened tliat while making this study I have come upon 
numerous documents, such as old surveys, deeds, and local maps of 
the road, and I have used some puldished records of the Draper 
Collection. But most of the information has l)een gotten from per- 
sonal examination of the road, or from conferences with residents of 
the various <listricts through which it passes. 

I have imposed through correspondence and interviews upon 
the good nature of more i)ersons that I can mention. I have been 
particularly fortunate in getting the help of Colonel James ]\Iaret, 
of Mt. Vernon and Lexington, Kv., and Professor R. INI. Addingtou, 



Prcfdcc 



County Clerk of Scott Couiilx-, \'ii. Witlmiil their aid my etVorts 
would have l)eeu in a hir^e pai-t fruitless. Colonel Maret has had a 
lifelonii' interest in the I'oad. and is incire familiar, than anyone else 
that I have met, with the road and the traditions of it in Kentucky. 
lie has not only IicIjxmI me freely out of his own kuowledi^e, hut he 
has put me in touch with many of his friends hetween Central 
Kentucky and Cumliei'land Ca]) who ha\-e niven me information. 
Professor Addinuton has in manuscript a History of Southwestern 
Virginia in which he has I'ccoi-ded a \('r\- thorouuh slud\- of the I'oad 
in \'iriiinia. IK- has hrouiiht to iiear ujxiu this study accurate his- 
torical scholai-ship. He has not onl>- studied the road in \ irginia 
upon the gi-onnd. hut has lidne xcry fully into the cxaminalion of 
court recoi-ds and of mamiscrijjts licaiing upon it. Through his aid 
I have heen ahle, I l)elii'\'e. to locate the road |)i-ecisely hetween the 
Block House and Cumhci'land (iaj). .Vnd this is the most ini|)ortant 
])art of the investiuation. foi- while the road's ap|)ro\imate location 
from Cund)erland (iap to Hari-odslmru is well known there has hecu, 
jud.n'ini;' from the hooks oii the sulijcct. great unceilaint.\' concerninii; 
it.s course from the Block House to (umlierland (iap. IniU-ed, I 
liave found diversity of opinion as to the location of sections ol the 
I'oad through ^'irg•inia e\-eii aiuong residents there who hail interest in 
the suhject. It was only through Professor .Vddington's aid that I 
was ahle to clcai' U]) these matters. 

I think it may he clainie(l that the location herein gi\en the 
i-oad is approximately accurate for its entire length. l''rom the Block 
House in \'irginia to the i)oint where the road enters Laurel ( "ounty, 
Ky.. northwest of Bai'hourville. I lieliexc IIk' location of the road 
is exact. Betwci-n this jxiint and Hrodhead. Ky.. there are some 
unsettled (|uestions in my min<l coucci'uing the exact location ol the 
roail; hut e\en here the location of the road is, 1 helieN'c, \ei-\' nearly 
coi-rccI . 



Preface xiii 

Foi- collaU'i-al historical facts 1 am mucli iii(lcl)te(l t(t the fol- 
lowing' works: 

The Wilderness Road I)y Thomas ?peed. Published by John 1'. 
Morton & Co.. for the Filson Chib. Louisville, Ky.. 1886. 

Bonne's Wilderness Road. t)y Archer Butler Hullmrt, ])ul)lishe<l 
by the Arthur H. (Mark C'o.l Cleveland, Ohio, lild,'!. 

Daniel Hoone and the Wilderness Hiiad by TI. A(l(lin<;tou liruce, 
iniblished by The Macniillau Company. New ^'c)rk. li)ll. 

The Cnioiiiesl of the Old Sonfh West by Archibald Henderson. 
])ublislied by Tlie ('entnry Company, X(>\v \'(irk, ID'iO. 

Chieai/o, Oetober 1st. I'.l.'l 



r 



THE WILDERNESS ROAD 
TO KENTUCKY 

Chapter I 

The Importance of the Settlement of Kentucky 
and of the Wilderness Road 

THE Wilderness Road lo Kentucky was one of the very important 
pioneer roads of the country. Over it struggled the early trav- 
elers who led the way in the settlement of the West, and who estab- 
lished the first commonwealth in the wilderness l)eyond the ]Moun- 
tains. Its history is picturesfpie and romantic, and is rich in the 
traditions of the hardships and adventures and achievements of 
the explorers and himters and pioneers for whom it was the path to 
the promised land of Kentucky. And yet, except for a few anti- 
quarians and historians, and for the memories of it which persist 
among the people along its course, it is forgotten. Its usefulness as 
a thoi'oughfare is passed. With the automobile it may come l)ack 
into its own, ])ut at present no one travels over the whole length of 
this road that once was the only beaten path to Kentucky and was 
traveled by tens of thousands of pioneers. 

At the beginning of oiu' War for Independence (Ireat Britain, 
l)y virtue of her victory over the French in the French and Indian 
War, held the outposts that were the keys to the country between 
the Tennessee River and the Great Lakes to the Mississippi on the 
west. North of the Ohio the territory was in the possession of Indians, 
who were its permanent occupants. South of the Tennessee the terri- 

1 



[2] The U^ihlcnus.s limtd to Knituclcfi 

tory was similai'ly (K-ru])i(Ml l)y Indinns. Between tliese two vast areas 
])ro.jected Keiitueky and a part of Tennessee — a no man's land, occu- 
pied jjerinanently l)y no Indians, hut used as a common hunting o'round 
hy thi' In(hans of the North and thosi' of the South. In the North- 
west Ti'rritory tlie British outposts extended to the west ahjug the 
(ireat Lakes as far as ]\Iaekinac. witli Deti'oit as head(|uarters, and 
to the southwest as far as Kaskaskia and (ahokia on the ^lississippi, 
with \ ineennes. on the Wahash. as I he chief station. Tliis distribu- 
tion of the liritisli outj)osts ])ut them in tlie ])osition of outflanking 
the Ami-rican Colonies, and enabled them to exert an influence over 
the Indians, which was a weapon of great danger to the western 
settlements. It was a weapon which, in fact, they used with disastrous 
etfectiveness along the entire Colonial frontier. 

The Colonial outposts showed no such western extension. 
Pittsliurgh. a mere fort at a strategic point in the \\ ildcrness. which 
had been abandoned in 177-2. but i-cliuilt as Fort Duumore in 1774. 
was the western outp()st. l''ort (umberland. where ( 'umbcrland, 
]\Id.. now stands, was a station on the way to Pit tsbui-gli. There were 
struggling settlements in the Shenandoah \ alley, bul except I'itts- 
burgh. the only settlements west of tlu' Allegheny Mountains were 
those on the hea<lwaters of New Hi\XM' and thosi' on the Holston and 
Clinch in \ irginia and North (ai-olina. The ^ irginians and North 
Carolinians hail reached the faiihcst west of the ( dlonies. in that 
interesting and slurdy settlement on tlu- headwaters of tlu' Holston 
River, famous as the Watauga Settlement. 

These out])osts re])resented the extreme frontier of Western 
Colonial settlement. They were constantly exposed to Indian 
attacks, and. dui-ing the iicvolutiou. would have been wi])ed out by 
these attacks, but foi' the tenacious courage and resourci'fulness of 
their inhabitants. As a matter of fact, these \ irginia and North 
(ai'olina settlements wci'c tln'UiseKi's a nai'row ])euuisula in tlu> 
^^ ildcincss. In New York State, in IVims\l\ania. and in ^lar\land 




WISCONSIN HISTORIC 
('apt. Thus. Ilutchiiis" Map 


















•c-'te. 



WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COI.I-ECTIOX. rOM.ECTIONS, Vol.- XXIII. DIUPEIl SERIES. VOI,. IV. 

Capt. 'J'lios. Hiitchins' Map 




iV>\ ^;--'/ /.";'/ -' 




\r, ( l.ir/IKN f ()IIL( TIONS, \<)1 will I U\I 1 H si Ull s \OI IV. 



The I III portdiivc of flic ScttlcHwiit of Kciifiich-// [.'}] 

the frontier was witliin 100 miles of tlie Atlantic- coast; as Speed 
pointed out, the Wyoniinii Massacre in Pennsylvania in 1778 occun-ed 
within 100 miles of New York City. Compared with the actual 
extent of what is now the United States, the Colonies at the bei>in- 
ning of the war stretched as a strij) of settled territory alon<^' the 
Atlantic border. 

Hutchins" ma]), |)ul)lished by the British Covernment in 1778, 
indicates clearly the advantageous j^ctsition of the Hritish before the 
settlement of Kentucky. Considering its date, it depicts with remark- 
able accuracy the geography of this territory — far more accurately 
than Filson gives the geography of Kentucky. For example, the map 
shows the Indian village of Chicago, the prairies of Illinois, ^luscle 
Shoals on the Tennessee River, the fine lands of Central Kentucky, 
the Falls of the Ohio River, and the Indian ^Yar Path from Sandusky 
to Cumberland Ca|). Such a map indicates that the British, through 
their Canadian and French outposts, were very nuich more accurate- 
ly informed of this country than were the Colonial Virginians, and 
that many travelers had passed over it. On this nuip is shown the 
chain of British and French outposts from the Niagara River to the 
]VIississip])i: Ft. Niagara: Sandusky; Ft. Detroit; Ft. St. Joseph, 
with the road from Detroit through St. Joseph to the i)ortage of the 
Chicago River and from St. Joseph to the Wabash River; Ft. \'in- 
cennes; Cahokia; Kaskaskia; and Fl. ^lassac, with the road from 
Ft. ^'incennes to Kaskaskia and Ft. Massac. It shows Ft. Cumber- 
land and Ft. Pitt, and tiie outjxists of settlement on the headwaters 
of the Tennessee River. It shows the Kentucky River and gives it 
that name; the Falls of the Ohio, e\en Beargrass Creek. But it shows 
not a single settlement in Kentucky itself. 

Filson's maj), on the othei- hand, jjublished six years later — 
very inaccurate in its natural geographical features — shows Central 
Kentucky as far west as Louisville dotted with settlements: Ilarrods- 
l)urg, Bardstown. Louisville, Boonesborough, Ix'xiugton ami a score 



[4] 



The Wilderness Road to Keiifiiek, 



or more of smaller stations. The contrast between these two maps 
graphically indicates the development of Kentucky in the short 
space of five years. 

This was the situation in 1775. The British in the northwest 
were behind the Colonies, and. in the event of a i)eace treaty before 
they were dislodged, were in position to claim by \irtue of ])ossession 




Booiiesl)orough. The wall is on the site of the Fori . Il ua- alnnil I u i. »■ ,i> l.nii; a.-, 
the present wall, exteiulinj; heyomi I lie dark i-ottaue at tlie left 

at least the area north of the Ohio Hi\ei' an<l west of the Allegheny 
Mountains. It was the beginning of a vigorous settlement in the heart 
(»f Kentucky that changed this situation. The British recognized the 
danger of this Kentucky settlement on their southern flank, and from 
1775 to 178''2 made eveiy effort through their Indian allies to destroy 
these settlements. They made the eti'ort in a way. it must be said 
in passing, that is a stain on the rei)utation of British arms. Although 
these Kentucky settlements were weak and small, they could not be 
di.slodged. They were able not only to maintain their foothold but 



U I I I 



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f'.r 



nr- 




FILSDN'S MM' ,.1 KkNTLCKV 117S41 




("umlierland Gap 
(From ('iiinherlinid fla]) \'illage) 



TJic Iinjiorfdiicc of the Settlement of Keiitiieh\i/ [9] 

they carried their ott'ensive across tlie Ohio River time ami time again, 
and by the end of the Hevohitionary War had demorahzed the 
Indian settlements in the sonthern part of Ohio, and had prepared 
the way for the settlement of that territory. 

The permanent settlement of Kentucky began to take form in 
1775. The exploration of the state had begun nuich earlier. Trav- 
elers had gone down the Ohio River and touched the state's border 
for more than a century. In 1750 Dr. Thomas Walker, for the 
Loyal Land Company of London, went through the mountains of the 
southeastern part of the state. In the same year Christojdier Gist, 
for the Ohio Company, explored the northeastern part of the state. 
In 175'2 and 1767 John Finley traded in Kentucky cm the Ohio 
River. In 1704 Henry Scaggs went through Cumberland (iap and 
hunted on the Cund)erland. In 1766 James Smith's party of five 
entered Kentucky by the same route, and another i)arty of five hunt- 
ers under Isaac Lindsey went to Kentucky from South Carolina. In 
1767 James Harrod and Michael Stoner were in the southeastern 
part of the state. In the Stanwix Treaty of 1768, made at what is 
now Rome, X. Y., the Six Nations had ceded to Virginia their claims 
to the country between the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers, anil thus 
had given to Virginia the nominal right to the Kentucky country. 
The real exploration of Kentucky began, after this treaty, with the 
hunting parties of 1761) to 1771. In these years the Long Hunters' 
went into Kentucky through Ciunberland Gap and hunted along the 
Cumberland and (ireen Rivers in the southern part of Eastern 
Kentucky. At the same time Boone and his i)arty went into Ken- 
tucky and hunted on the Kentucky River, and discovered the 
))eautiful plateau of Central Kentucky. This himting ])arty of 1769, 
headed by Boone, witli five others, including Johu Finley, left the 
Yadkin May 1st, 17(19. It was later joined by S(iuire Boone, who 

'Col. James Knox heiided The Long Hnnters according; to Ilullnut; Jos. 
Drake and Henrv Scagcs, aceordin"; to Henderson. 



[10] 



Tlic IUhhriu's.s lioad Id Kent ni-],-// 



alternated with Hooiie in Kentucky until the spring of 1771. This 
hunting party of 17(>i) to 1771 was the first inijxirtant ex])loration 
of the state. It did two imi)ortant things: It found the wondei'fully 
rich territory of Central Kentucky and it found a ])racticalile way to 
reach it. I'^ollowiug the ex])editions of 17(>!) lo 1771. many hunters 






jy 


^^^^^ ' .. 


11 



S(|uirc liooiif Stdiif. inscrilu'd \\illi his 

ii:iiiu' .-niil the date 1770. Xnw in |{icli- 

iiKiiiii Court House Yard. Found near 

l?i- Hill. Madison County. Ky. 

and land-lookers went into Kentucky and i nought hack to the Col- 
onies glowing reports of the country. 

By 177.5. accordingly, the \ irginia and \(U'th (arolina frontiers- 
men were eager for the Kentucky coiuitry. In 1774 .lames Ilarrod 
and a party of ;5.), had already attem])ted to cslahlish a settlement 
at Ilarrodshnrg. hut had left it on recei|)l of the news from Boone 
of the danger of Indian hostilities. In 177.) Ilarrod and his |)arty 




Boone's (iap. \Yhere lii>. (rail to l?ci()iit'sl)()roiii;li iiasxil owv the watershed between 
the ('iinil)erhin(l and the Kentucky Rivers 



The Iiiij)()rfa>icc of the tScttUmcnt of Kciitiicki/ [13] 

were l)ack at Ilarrodshurg a month l)efore Boone reached Boones- 
l)orough. It is a fact, tlierefore, that tlie setth^nient of Kentucky 
would have begun in tlie spring of 1775 without any artificial stimula- 
tion. Just at this moment, however, the settlement of the state 
received an im])etus from the daring scheme of Colonel Richard 
Hentlerson and his famous Transylvania Company. Henderson had 
conceived the idea of a great proprietary colony in Kentucky, like 
Lord Baltimore's colony in Maryland, and Penn's colony on the 
Delaware. It was a visionary scheme and the company was dissolved 
in December. 177(5. a year and a half after the foundation of Boones- 
borough. but it nevertheless performed a useful service in ])lacing some 
organized strength behind the infant settlements of 177.5. 

In February. 177.5. Henderson and his party met the Cherokee 
Indians at Sycamore Shoals, at Watauga, and early in March, 
(March 17th, 1775). made a treaty with them l)y which they ceded 
to the Transylvania Company the territory lying between the 
Kentucky and Cumberland Rivers, and a stri]) of land through Vir- 
ginia giving access to it. It made little difference in the snbsef|uent 
events that the Cherokees were ceding a territory to whic-h they had 
the vaguest title and that Ilenderscm was claiming rights that be- 
longed to Virginia. Henderscm inunediately started upon his plan 
of settlement of Kentucky. Boone had l)een his agent in bringing 
the Indians to negotiaticms and in the negotiations at Sycamore 
Shoals, and Henderson had already engaged him to take out a party 
to Kentucky, to locate the trail, and to select a suitable spot for the 
first Transylvania settlement. 

With the spring of 1775 Harrod's jjarty went back to Harrods- 
l)m'g; Boone led the Transylvania party to Boonesborough; and the 
flow of permanent settlers into Kentucky was started. When 
Boonesborough was founded there were, according to Bruce's 
estimate, one hundred pioneers in Kentucky; Collin's (History of 
Kentuckv. Vol. II, 5'-23) estimates the numljer at three hundred. 



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[14] TIw Jnidcnics's- Road ta Kciifuclcji 

Tliat tliey were eagerly searching oiil tlu- country is shown hy the 
tact tliat Henderson, who left ^Vatauga foi- Kentucky March "iOth, 
ten (lays hehiiul Boone, met on his way to Hooncshorough about 
sixty (liscoirraged i)ioneers returning to Mrginia. At first, owing to 
Indian hostilities, tlie growth of the Kentucky settlements was slow. 
Their existence was even threatened, hut tliey never succumhed, 
and after their first struggle they grew with a ra]M(lity that, in view 
of their isolation, is unparalleled even among the phenomenal records 
of frontier develo|)ment in this country. 

There were. then. prol)al)ly more than a liuudred white ])er- 

j ^ "^ sons in the whole state of Kentuckv at the time of the foundiu"' of 

.>~^^^ Booncsl)orough in A])ril. 177.5. By 17S;> it is estimatcil that there 

S^ were I'-i.OdO. At this time the Revolution was over, and the presence 

~ I ^ of these I'^.OOO pcoi)le had been an important factor in determining 

;; '; y for the liiited States the possession of Kentucky. ()hio. Indiana 

^ '- j and Illinois. By the s])ring of 17S4' it is estimated that there were 

*^ \ .; ^20. ()()() iuhal)itants in Kentucky. During 17S4. .'Jd.dOd immigrants — 

men. women and children — are believed to have come into Kentucky 

: by the Wilderness Road from ^ irgiuia and North Carolina. By the 

v,^ _, ' census of 1790 Kentucky had a po])ulatiou of over 7.5, ()()(). .Vt the 

., < "< same time there had been almost no growth west in New York State, 

^-''^ and little in Pennsylvania. In ten years more, by ISOd, the census 

showed that Kentucky had a population of '^'iO.OOd. nearly as much 
as Connecticut, two thirds that of Maryland, more than one half 
that of Massachusetts, and one thii'd that of IVmisylvania. In the 
ten years between 179(1 and ISOO New York State on the .Vtlautic 
seaboard gained '•2.50.000 ])o])ulation : Kentucky (iOO miles from the 
seaboard, and '200 miles from the frontier outposts of the eastei'U 
Colonies, gained 147.000. In 1790 its po])ulation was 14th among l(i 
states and tei'ritoi'ies. In ISOO it was 9th in ])opulation. ha\iiig al- 
ready passed four of the original ( 'olomcs. ^Fhc si-ttlemcnt of 
Kentucky uj) to 179.5 w;is an isolated phenomenon in the west. 



rf 






.w^ 



Tlic I III /lortdiicc of the ScttJciiiciil of Kciilucl,// [l-^] 

The census of 1790 iiave the entire jiopulatioii of the territory 
north of tlie Ohio River at 4/280. ]\[arietta and Cincinnati, the 
oldest colonial settlements in the west north of the Ohio River, 
began in 1788, six years after the last organized raid of any large 
party of Indians into Kentucky, and when Kentucky had a popula- 
tion of nearly 70.000 people. The actual settlement of the covmtry 
north of the Ohio River did not really begin until 179.) after the 
battle of Fallen Timber in 1794 when General .Vnthony Wayne, l)y 
his victory over the Indians, finally opened the country to white 
settlement. Three years before that, on June 1st. 179^2. Kentucky 
had been made a state. 

Thus there grew up in Kentucky a vigorous state, which, for 
twenty years, was an island of civilization in an unsettled wilderness 
that extended from the (Jreat Lakes almost to tlii' (iulf. and from the 
Allegheny ^Mountains to the indefinite west. This state was separated 
by two hundred miles from the extreme western out])osts of the 
eastern Cokmies. and by five hundre<l miles from the old eastern 
settlements. Through these two hundred miles of wilderness the 
state had only two lines of comnuniication with the eastern Tolonies: 
One wa.s over the mountain roads to Pittsburgh and down the Ohio; 
the other through Cumberland Gap by the Wilderness Road. The 
Ohio River route furnished little of the immigration until after 1795. 
Previous to that time the dangers from Indian hostilities on the 
north side of the Ohio River, and the tediousness of the voyage, 
cau.sed that route to be used by few of the outgoing ])ioneers. Going 
east against the fiow of the river it was practically unusable. It is, 
in fact, a shock to our concei)ti()ns of the lines of least resistance in 
travel to find that even as late as the time Kentucky became a state 
the Wilderness Road through Cumberland Gaj) was the way east 
for travelers from the lower Ohio \ alley; that the land route to St. 
Louis and \'incennes lay through Cumberland Ga]); and that a 
military order of I\lay. ll'.H, for a tri]j from Fort ^^asllington, 



[16] The IVihhriiCis Horn] to Kciiiiichi/ 

(Cincinnati) to Pliiladelpliia, s])ecitie(l as tlie line of travel the AVil- 
derness Road through Cumberland (ia]). 

In very fact the AVilderness Road for twenty years after the 
settlement of Kentucky was its only practicable line of comnumica- 
tion with civilization. Kentucky was settled over it. A hundred 
thousand ])ioneers traveled it before it was made a wagon road. 
And these hundred thousand travelers were settlers — men, women 
and children — bent ui)on building a permanent home in the wilder- 
ness. They brought their household goods, their domestic animals, 
their books, and even their printing press. They founde<l a society 
whose culture was on a i)ar with that of the eastern Colonies. Preach- 
ers, teachers, physicians, and lawyers without end. came with them. 
All of this was done over a l>ridlc path, two hundred miles long, 
extending from the Holston settlement in Mrginia to the plateau 
of Central Kentucky. It is facts such as these that made the Wilder- 
ness Road so important and should i)reserve its fame. 



Chapter II 

Boone's Part in the Wilderness Road 

TIIK actual locating of the Wilderness Road dates from Boone's 
expedition to estal)lish Boonesborough in March 1775. The 
road cannot justly be calleil Boone's Wilderness Road, for others 
did their part in finding its course, but it was more nearly Boone's 
road than anyone's else. As he said in his letter to Governor Shelby, 
"I first marked (Hit that road in March 1775". 

After the treaty at Sycamore Shoals, Henderson did well to 
choose Boone to mark the road to his land, and to search out the 
best place for his settlement in it. Boone had probal)ly been to 
Kentucky oftener. and stayed there longer, than any other man. 
Kentucky had ))een his goal for many years. As early as 1767 he had 
undertaken to find his way into Kentucky by going up the valleys 
of the Holston and Clinch and trying to reach the headwaters of the 
west fork of the Big Sandy River and following this to the Ohio. 
In this attempt he had failed. He had actually gone to Kentucky in 
May, 17(59, with a party, and stayed there until the spring of 1771. 
If he is entitled to the credit for discovering the road to the heart of 
Kentucky, and he seems to lie entitled to this credit, he made the 
discovery on this trip of 17()9-71. In October. 177.3, he had under- 
taken to lead a party for settlement, but had been turned back by the 
disastrous encounter with the Indians when his son James was killed. 
It seems likely that between 1771 and 1773 he made two other trips 
to Kentucky. In June, 1774. he had, with Michael Stoner, made 
his famous trip to the Falls of the Ohio as Governor Dunmore's 
agent to warn surveying parties in Kentucky of the outbreak of 

17 



[18] 



77/c JJlldirius.s HiHid to Kent iiclcii 



Indian hostilities. On this jounu'v he and Stoner made tlie trij) on 
foot from tlie ( liiich River to the Falls of the Ohio and retnrn in 
sixty-two days. 

When, therefore, Henderson enua,ni'(l him to lay off a roa<l to 
Kentucky. Hoone was ])rol>al)ly, more than any one else, familiar 
with the course that this road should follow. Hut it was not Hoone'.s 




'l";iMct iiKirkiui; supposcil site (if killiiii;- of 

liooiif's Sim .lames in Oct. 177:!. .Vctual site 

was iiruliali]\' on ^^all<•Il Hidijo 



achievement to have (lisco\ered the way through ('umherland Ciaj), 
and when he laid ofl' his road in 177.) he was only one of many persons 
who were familiar with the route. The cretht of discovering tlie way 
throuyh ( 'unilicrland (iap helonys to Dr. I'homas Walker. He 
founil the way down Powell ^'alley. through Cumberland da]), and 
Ihrouiih the ua]) at I'ineville, whei-e the (umherland Hi\-er cuts 
through Pine Mountain, lie had. in fad. twenty-hve years before 
i.;'i\-cn the names Id Powell Ri^•er. ( 'umlici-laud (iap. and the ("umber- 



Boone's Ptirt In the ff7W(7'Hc.s-.s- liond [19] 

land River, names wliicli were familiar wlien lioone started on liis 
famous road-making' enterprise. 

Boone's attention had prol)al)ly first l)een called to the road to 
Kentucky throuiih Powell Valley and Cumberland Gap by John 
Finley, whom Boone hail met in Braddocks campaign, and who was 
Boone's companion on his trip to Kentucky in 17()9-71. By 1775 so 
nuiny hunters and explorers (Finley. Scaggs. Smith. Lindsay, Har- 
rod, Stoner, McAfee) had gone into Kentucky by way of Cumberland 
(iap that the general route was well known. But it was Boone's 
specific job to mark a road; and this he did .so successfully that the 
road has remained practically where he placed it from that day to 
this, and along its general course the railway of to-day has found its 
location. 

Boone's party on this trip to Kentucky consisted of about 
thirty persons. They started March 10th from Long Island, just 
above the mouth of the South Fork of the Holston, or from Fort 
Patrick Henry, two miles further west, where the North Fork and 
South Fork of the Holston join. F'rom Long Island to Cumberland 
Gap there was a path: for INIartin's Station was then situated twenty 
miles from Cinnt)erland (iaj), and Henderson records he left his 
wagons there. It may be said in passing, as Prof. Addington sug- 
gested to me. that any one familiar with the old road can hardly 
understand how it was jjossible for Henderson to get his wagons as 
far as Martin's Station at that time. Beyond the point where the 
trail was defined Boone marked the way by blazing the trees. 

Boone knew the route and the journey was made quickly. The 
party left the Holston on March 10th and on IVIarch "^oth was at the 
site of Fort Estill, within fifteen miles of the site of Boonesborough. 
In fifteen days they had covered the two hundred miles through the 
wilderness and marked the road. Through tlie mountains of Ken- 
tucky the trip was difficult, and after they turned north towards 
Boonesborough. leaving the trail to the Northwest near Hock Castle 



•JO 



Tlic Wilderness Road to Kent iicL-ji 



River. tlu'V luul. acconlinu to Felix Walker, tit cut their way tliroii.ii'h 
cane and l)rusli for twenty or thirty miles of uiitraced wilderness. At 
the site of Fort F^still. near Richmond. Ky.. the party almost met 
disaster from an Indian attack in the eail>" niorninu of ]\Iarcli '2.)th. 
In this attack two men were killiMl. and one othei-. Felix Walker, hadly 




\MitTr IJooiic's Hii'lit (if Mai-cli '-'."), 177."). <»-(urrtMl. The .site of Ft. Esti 



injnred. Hoone in rejjortin.y this attack to Henderson tells him: 
"We stood on the gronnd and i;narded our Itaiigaye till day and lost 
nothinii'. We have al)out fifteen miles to Kentuck." (The Kentncky 
River at Otter Creek). The attack cansed Hoone to delay at this 
point nine days. Then he moved on to the month of Otter Creek on 
the Kentucky River on April (Uh. 1773. 




Loiiff Island and the Ilolstoii 



lidinic's Part in the IVildcriuss Road 



[•_>:j] 



Ilendcrsoii t'ollowiiii; Hooiic left \Viitaui;a March '■iOtli and 
arrived at liooiieshorouiih April "JOtli. Near Hock Castle liiver, 
where Henderson turned north to Bo()nesl)oroujjli. Lo^an and some 
otlier nienil)ers of the ])arty who had joined Henderson in Powell 
\'alley continued northwest alouii' the older trace to the i)resent site of 




()llcr Creek near [{(joik'sIkji-oiii;!! 

Stanfoi'd where they founded Lo,i>an's Fort, or St. Asai)h. The trail 
to Logan's Fort was on the way to the Falls of the Ohio, and it 
subsecjuently l)ecaine the great road to Central Kentucky leading 
through Cral) Orchard, Stanford. Danville, Harrodsliurg, Bardstown 
and the Salt Works near She])herilsville to Louisville. The trail to 
Crab Orchard, thus marked out l>y Boone and Logan, remained, 
through pioneer days the ^^ ilderuess Road to Kentucky. 



Chapter III 

JouDials of the JVilderncss Road 

SPEED resurrected and first published in his "Wilck'rness Rt)a(r' 
four journals of tlie Wihlerness Road: Brown's. Eilson's, Speed's 
and Calk's. In addition there are the journals of Eelix Walker and 
Henderson. Walker's account of Boone's ])arty in 177.) was made 
in the form of a l)ioura])hical statement about lS'-24. Henderson's 
journal which is preserved by the Wisconsin Historical Society, is a 
brief recital of the c\])criences on the journey of his party which 
followed Boone's ])arty 1(1 days later. H does not yive the landmarks 
of the road in a way to locate them accurately, but it i^ives some 
account of the lia|)i)eninus alon.u tlie road, and thus some idea of the 
difficulties of tra\el. But in this respect it does not compare with 
the journal of Calk who was with Henderson's j)arty from Martin's 
Station to Boonesboronuli. Brown's. Eilsons and Speed's journals 
are especially valuable in locatina; the road, because each yives 
landmarks of the road with distances between. Brown's itinerary 
extends from Hanoxer. \a.. to Harrodsbur<)'. Ky.; Filson's from 
Philadelphia to Louisville, and Speed's from Charlotte C. H.. Va.. 
to Rock Castle River. Speed's journal is not complete as it is defaced 
in places, and ends at Rock Castle River. I have, in the table below, 
given only the landmarks between the Block House and Crab 
Orchard, the part which I'cally constituted the road through the 
wilderness. H is by identifying these landmarks with present points 
that the road can be accurately located. 

As it will be seen Brown's journal is much the most detailed: 
From the Block House to Crab Orchard he gives ;5'-2 points, Eilson 



[•-'•>] 



Tin- Wildciiu'ss liodd to Kciiiiichu 



Stations on thk Wildp:kness Roau Ukiween 
The Block House and Crab Orchard 





JOIRNALS 








■J-. 


., 


,^ 








C 


g 


y. 








C5 




■r. 




1. 


To Block House 


* 


* 


* 


Block House is given hy all these 
iournals. 


o 


To North Fork Holston 


2 






••Holstein," Brown & Filson. 


8 


To Moccasin (nq) 


o 






"Big Moccasin Gap, Brown. 


4. 
.5. 











At Gate Citv. 


To Clinch River 


11 




1'2 


At Speer's Ferry. 


fi 


To Ford of Stock Creek 









At Chnchi)ort. 




To Little Flat Lick 


5 






At Duthel.l. 


S 


To No. Fork of Clinch. . . . 


1 






At Dutticld. 


10. 


'Vo Powell Mtn 


1 


33 




At Kane's (ia|i near Dutticld. 


11 


To Scott's Sta 






1'2 




VI. 


T(, Wallen Ridjie 


5 


3 




••Wallen" nr -Wallan Ridge, 
Brown. "Waldeu'sRidge," Filson. 


v^. 


Tt)Vallev Station 


.) 


4 






u. 


To Powell River 


'2 




10 




i.i 


To Glade Spring 


4 






At .Tonesville. 


10 


To Martin's Sta 


19 


'2.5 


^2 


Near Rose Hill, Lee Co. \ a. 


17. 


To Bis: Spring 


1-2 






Not certainly located. 


18. 

lit. 


To Cuniherland Gap .... 
T,, Y<'lloNv Creek 


8 
'2 


'20 


3 


■•('umherland Mountain Gaj) 
Briiwn. 


->() 


To Cumberland River . 


13 


13 


1.5 




'21. 


To Flat Lick 


9 


9 


9 


"Big Flat Lick Brown. 


.70 


To Stinking Creek 




>■) 


t> 




'23. 


To Little Richland Creek 


10 








•24. 


To Big Richland Creek . 


1 


7 


7 




'2.5. 


Down Richland Creek 




8 






26. 


To Roljinson Creek 


10 








27. 


To Raccoon Spring 


1 


() 


14 


Not certainly located. 


'28. 


To Laurel River 





o 


^2 




'.'!> 


To Little Laurel River 











;?(). 


'I'o Raccoon Creek . 


8 






Caiiniil locale any point where 
road loiiclicd Raccoon Creek. 


31 


To Ha/.cl Patch 


4 


i: 


1,5 




:?2. 


'Id Rock Castle Creek .... 


6 






Hazel Patcii Creek, unodeni 
name. 1 


;?:5. 


To Rock Castle Riv 


7 


i( 


K 





Jonnuds (if flic ]]^ildcrucss Road 



[•-^r] 



)4. To Sca"cs" Occk 



3J. To Head of Dix River 



;5(i. To En>;lisli Station 
.'57. To ('rah Orcliard 

Total distance . . 



15 



Skagg Creek on U. S. INIap. 
Brown's name is correct; the 
creek was named for Ca])t. 
Scaggs. 

Dick's River. Brown's name is 
better; the river was named 
for a negro Dick, killed by 
Indians. 



gives 17, and Speed 1.). lirown'.s journal was made in 178'-2; Filson's, 
published in 1784. was probably made about the same time; and 
Speed's in 17!)(). Fil.sou gives two landmarks which are not given 
by Brown, and Speed two stations given by neither of the others, 
probably because eight years earlier, when Brown and Filson went 
over tlie road, these two stations did not exist. The total ninnber of 
landmarks given by the three journals from the Block IIou.se to 
Cral) Orchard is ;?7. 

It is interesting to comjjare the estimated distances between 
points as these journals give them. The distance from the Block 
House to Crab Orchard as given by Brown is 191 miles, by Filson as 
18.3 miles. At many jioints the journals agree exactly, or very 
closely, in the estimated distances between points. For examjjle: 
From Wallen Ridge to Valley Station Brown gives as .5 miles, Sjieed 
4 miles; from \'alley Station to ^Martin's Station Brown gives "io 
miles. Speed 15 miles; from Martin's Station to Cumberland (iap 
Brown gives "^O miles. Speed gives '•20 miles; from Cumberland Cap to 
Cumberland River Brown gives 15 miles, Filson 13 miles. Speed b5 
miles: from Cumberland River to Flat Lick all three give 9 miles; 






, Z*^' , ^Z^/^^y/j/^// ,7 / ,<^ ;z^.v;f ^y^-f ^iV^^^ 

<rv-;^.'^ i^.'-t^^^ ^^f-^ I i1//yA>'*^t^^^>'^'^ 



^/'^'M^ ^^^^r/s.C^y^ _ Z-!?^'^ '.<^.^' .<^ i/rc^^^Z^ 



/d) 
/^ 

cP 
/' 



A-^//.^v^.<^? 



t/ - 



'^^ 
.'-^^^. 



. /^ 

/ ^ ■ 






/* 



. L ^i>^ ^f~ff^/ 



Facsimile i)ai:c from nrown's .l,)iiriial, Soiiu-wliat I'lilariicil 



^''T^V^'.-r, /. .^:.>..v.' ^X>^ lJ/I^^A 



* ■■-■■■ /♦ ^- .-' ■-,-t, jm^a .-i ^ A-'^r-.-f ^^^ 






-: J^,f^t m^ Xi^C >%!.<5> < -r-./-- >$ .^ ^, 



a ' -'^ •^«-' y^' ■ 



Facsimile |iai;c IVoiii Urowii's .luiii-nal. Soincw li:il ciilart;)-!! 



JoiiriHils of the jnidcnicss liodd [-^l] 

from Flat Lick to Stinking' ("reek Filson and Speed hotli yive ^2 
miles; from Stinkini>' Creek to Richland Creek both give 7 miles; 
from Raccoon Spring to Laiu-el River all give '■2 miles; from Laurel 
River to Hazel Patch Brown gives 17 miles. Filson and S])ee(l give 
15 miles; from Rock Castle River to Crab Orchard Brown gives 31 
miles and Filson gives "28 miles. And it is very striking when one 
goes over the road to-day to find how accurately these earl>' travelers 
estimated distances between points. They were evidently the esti- 
mates of the distances which had been accepted along the road. 

All of the landmarks of the road, when their identification with 
modern lantlmarks has been made, are easily located on the topo- 
graphical quadrangle maps of the United States (leological Survey. 

Brown's Journal ^ 

Brown's Journal, preserved in the University of Chic-ago Library, 
is the fullest jom-nal, and the most thoughtful in all respects. It 
gives in addition to the stations and distances. "Observations and 
Occurrences" of the journey. These are judicious observations of 
the country and the road, but contain little detail of the hai)i)enings 
of the journey. He is ct)ncerned almost completely with the road 
and the country through which he is passing. 

He covers the I'oad as far as the Block House in one paragraph, 
as follows: "the road from Hanover to this place is generally \'ery 
good, crossg. the Blue ridge it is not bad. there is not more than a 
small Hill with some windings to go over neither is I he .Vlegany 
mountain by any means difficult at this Gap. there is one or two high 
Hills about New River and Fort Chizwell. tlic Ford of \cw River 



'Both of Brown's Journals are i)ul)lislied in full in Speeds ■"Wilderness Road." 
His Journal of The Wilderness Road is jjuhlished in Hull)urt's "Wilderness Road" 
and his Journal of The Ohio River Route in Hulbin-fs "Braddoek"s Road." The 
Arthur II. Clark Co. 



[82] 



Tlic ]]^}ldi rtuss liodd to Kciitiich- 



is rather l)a(l therefore we (houuht it mlvisalile to cross in the Ferry 
Boat, this is i>eiierally a uood watered roail as far as the Block 
House. — "" 

■■^^e waited hereabouts lat the Block Ht)use 1 near two weeks for 
coni])any and then sett out for the Wilderness witli bi men and 10 
iiuns this lieinu Tliui'sday ISthJuly - the road from this i the Block 




Cliiuh River ahoxe old Ford. l)ooj)eiied hy a inill dam 

House) untill you liet over Wallens Hidye yenerally is had. some 
part very nuich so. particularly aliout Stock Cr. and Stock ("r. 
Rid<ie. it is a very mountainous country hereabouts. l)ut there is 
some fine land in the bottoms near the water courses in narrow 
slipes, it will lie hut a thin settled country whenever it is settled." 

No one could briefly describe the road more accurately or j^ass 
a better judgment upon the country between the Block House and 
Powell ^Mountain than is given in these few sentences. 

"the fords of Holsteiu. and Clinch are both good in dry weather, 
but in a rainv season vou are often oliliged to Haft over, from thence 




Ill,- Ford (of the North Fork) (.f tlic Il.ilst.,n 




Broad acres in Powell ^'allev 




On Wilderness Road at Rose Hi 
Powell \'alley, near site oF 
Martin's Station 




Cuniherlaiul Mouiilaiu Range, from Powell ^ alley 



Joiinitils (if the irihhriuss Rottd 



[30] 



the Road along down Powels \'aley, untill you ii'et to Cunilx'rland 
Gap, is pretty i>'ood this \'aley is formed hy ( "unihcrland Mo. on the 
N. \V. and Powels Mo. on the S. E. and api)ears to hear from X. E. S. 
Westardly and is I sup])s. ahout 100 miles in leni>th, & from 10 to VI 
miles in hreadth. llie land generally is ^ood and is an exceeding well 
watei-ed country, as well as the country on Holstein River ahoundini^' 




Tlie head of Dix River. Urodliead, Keiitiirky 

with hue springs and little Brooks — for ahout .>0 miles as you travel 
along the \'aley Cumherland Mountain appears to l)e a very hi.uii 
ridge of white Rocks inaccessihle in most ])laces toeither Manor Beast 
and affords a wild romantic pros])ect, the way thro" the da]) is not very 
difficult, but from its situation travellers may be attacked in some 
places crossing the mo. by the enemy to a very great disadvantage." 
This descri])tion of I'owell A'alley and Cumberland Mountain is 
in every way accurate. The only point where one might differ is 
upon the statement that the way through the Gai) is not very difficult 
— but "diHicult" is a relative term. 



<^ 



[40] The JVildcnir.s.s Jiudd fn Kciitiich-// 

■■from thence uiitill yoii pass Rockcastle River tliere is very little 
good Koa<l this reach of country is \ery mountainous and Bailly 
watered along the trace especially for springs, there is some good 
land on the watercourses — Just on this side Cumberland River 
appears to be a good tract, and withing a few years I expect have 
a settlement on it — some parts of the road is very miry in rainy 
weather, the Ford of Cumberland and Rockcastle are both good 
unless the waters be too high, after you cross rock Castle there is a 
few high Hills, and the rest of the way toleral)le good, the land 
appears to be rather weak chiefly Timb. wh. Oak &c. the first of the 
Kentucky waters you touch is the H(>ad of Dicks River Just S miles 
from Englisirs. here we arrived Thui'sday '■i'A\\ inst. whicli is just 7 
days since we started fi'oin the Block House — "' 

■■]\b)Uilay '•2!)th inst. 1 got to Harrodsl)urg and saw Hro. James — 
the next day we ])arted as he was aliout setting off on a Journey to 
Cuml)erland — On ^b)nday Augt. liMli Col. John Todd with a ])arty 
of 18'-^ of our men attacked a body of Indians su])])d. to l)e (i or 7 
Hundred at tlie Blue I.ick. and was defeated wh. the loss of ().5 
{)erson missing & slain — in this action Bro. James fell.'" 

His characterization of the road and the country from Cundter- 
land (iap to Rock Castle River is true. It is all mountainous and 
inhospitable to the farmer. The tract just on this side of Cumlier- 
land River, which he says appears to be good, nuist have been in 
I he valley of Yellow Creek, either where ^liddlesboro now stands or 
further down. This is level and doubtless a])])eared fertiU'. but his 
judgment of this as good land was at fault. He never lived up to 
his exj)ectation of having a settlement on it. 

Brown's journal is contained in a small manuscript book, which 
also contains his journal of his joui'uey to Kentucky by Braddock's 
Road and the Ohio River in 17!)(). The journals are written in ink in 
his hand, and they may have been transcril)ed from i-arlier co])ies. 
The other contents of the book are interesting as thi'owiug light 



Joiininl.s (if the Wilderness liixid [ -H ] 

ui)()n the character of some of these pioneers. They consist of classi- 
cal poems, memoranda upon inventions and scientific facts, and pre- 
scriptions for various ailments. The whole })ook is the work of a 
serious minded intelligent man with a bent for knowledge. There is 
nothina; in the remotest way suggesting the illiterate, irresj)onsil)le 
ruffian that the pioneer is often descril)ed to he. And that Brown 
was not an unusual type among pioneers is shown l)y the rapid 
cultural development of the early settlements of Kentucky. 

Calk's Journal' 

Calk's Journal is preserved in the collection of Calk j^apers 
owned by ^Ir. Price Calk. Ilingston Dale Farm. Mt. Sterling. Ky. 
What Brown's journal lacks in human interest is su{)plied by Calk's. 
He wrote English as it sounded to him, l>ut he had a j)ictures(iue 
style and it would be hard to find a more vivid account of the happen- 
ings of the road. There is no other contem])oraneous document that 
compares with Calk's journal in this respect. He describes not the 
country, but what ha])pened to his party on the journey. This 
account is virtually the journal of Henderson's journey to Kentucky, 
for Calk traveled with Henderson from ^Martin's Station to Boones- 
borough. And he wrote the epic of the road. 
"William Calk his Jornal 

1775 March i;?th mond I set out from prince wm. to travel to Cain- 
tuck on tuesday Night our company all Cot together at ^Ir. Prises 
on Rapadan Which was ABraham hanks ])hilij) Drake Eanock 
Smith Robert Whitledge & my Self thear abrams Dogs leg got broke 

By Drake's Dog—" 

* * * 

"fryd 17th we Start Early cross the Ridge the wind Blows very 
hard & cold and lodge at James loyls." 

'Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 7 No. 4, jVIarch 19^21. (An aecurate 
copy of Calk's Journal). Also j)ul>lished in Speed's "Wilderness Road." 



[42] The IJ'ihlcniess Bond in KrufiicL-// 

"wedns ^Hd we St;irt early and yit lo t'oart chissel wliear we i;it 
some "ood loaf Bread & i^ood Whiskey."" 



"t'ryday ye ','Mli we Start earl\- \. lui'ii <>nl nf the waiion Road 
lo <;■() across the inoiiiitaiiis to go hy Daiiil Sinitlis we lose Drive 
Come to a turahel mountain that tried us all almost to death to 
git over it 6^: we lodge this night on the Lawrel fork of holston uikUm- 
a grait mountain 6s; Roast a tine fat turkey for our Su])i)ers X: Kat 
it without aney Bread" 

"Satrd '•2.5 we Start Karl\' trax'el o\'er Some more very Bad 
mountains one that is ealed ("lineh mountain (is: we git this night to 
Danil Smiths on elineh and there we Staid till thursday morning 
on tuesday night & wechiesday morning it Snowed \'ery hard and was 
very colad ic we hunted a good deal there while we Staid in Rough 
mountains & Kild three Deer ^ one turkey Kanock ABram ^ 1 got 
lost tuesday night & it asnowing ^- Should a lain in the mountains 
liad not I had a pocket ( 'omjKis By which 1 (iot in a littel in the 
night and tired guns and they heard them and cairn in By the Re- 
l^oart ."" 

■'thursd .SOth we Set out again ^- went down to Elk gardin and 
there Sui)lid our Selves AVith Seed Corn 6^ irisli tat(us then we went 
on alittel way I turned my hors to dri\e afore me iS>: he got Scard 
l{an away threw Down the Saddel Bags cV' Bioke three of our jxiwder 
goards & ABrams flask Burst oj)en a walet of corn is; lost a good Deal 
& made aturrahel flustration amongst the Reast of the horses Drakes 
mair ran against a sa])ling cS: noct it down we cacht them all again iS: 
went on ^sc lodged at John Duncans'" 

■■fr\-d .'51st we suj)layed our Selvo ;i I Duukans with a UlS 
l)ounds of Bacon ^ went on again lo Brile\s mill iS. su])loyd our 
SeKcs with meal (S>: lo(lge(l this night at clinch B\' a large cainhrakc cJv 
cuckt our Supijcrs." 



Jdii mills of tlic fflldcnu'ss lioad 



[48] 



This is vivid enough for aiiyliody. ;iii(i it U'lls tlic sort of Irijiis 
tliat the traxclers endured. 

■'Al)ril satd first tliis niornini; liiere is ice at oiii' cani]) half inch 
tliick we Start Early & travel this Day alon^ a verey Mad hilley way 
cross one creek wlieai' the horses almost got [Nlired Some fell in «& 
all wet their loads we cross Clinch River & travell till late in the 




Iii(li:iii ( 'rcfk 

Night & cam]) on cove creek having two men with us that wair 
pilates" 

"Sand 'id this morning avery hard frost we Start Karly travel 
over powels mountain and camp on the head of Powels \aley whear 
there is verey good food" 

" niond ;5d we Start Early travel down the \aley cross ])owelt 
Hiver go some throw the woods with out aney track cross some Had 
hils (lit into hendersons Road camp on a creek in ])()wels valey; 
tuesday 4th Raney we Start ahout 1(1 oclock and git down to capt 
martins in the valey where we over take Coin, henderson 6s; his coni- 
paney Bound for Caintuck & there we camp this Night there they 
were Hi-oiling ^ Eating Beef without Bread: Wednt-sday ye oth 
lireaks away fair i!s; we go on down the valey & camp on Indian 
Creek we had this creek to cross maney times &: very Bad Banks 
ABrams saddle turned ^ the load all fell in we got out this Eavening 
and Kill two DcH-r" 



[44] Tlic JVildeniess Road to Kciitiick// 

"thunl (ith this morning is aliard frost & we wait at camp for 
Coin, henderson &; companey to come up they come up about \'2 
oclock & we Join witli tliem and camp tliere Still this night waiting 
for Some part of the companey that had their horses Han away with 
their packs: fry day ye 7th this morning is a very hard Snowey morn- 
ing & we Still continue at camp Being in numl)er al)out 40 men & 
Some Neagros this Eavening Comes aletter from Capt Boon at 
caintuck of the Indians doing mischief and Some turns back" 
AVilliam Calk His Jurnal April ye 8th 177.5 Satterday 
Satrd 8th We all pact up & Started Crost Cuml)erland gap about 
one oclock this Day we Met a great maney ])eopel turnd Back for 
fear of the Indians but our Company goes on Still with good courage 
we come to a very ugly Creek With Stee]) lianks is: have it to Cross 

Several times on this Creek we camp this night" (^Yellow Creek.) 

* * * 

'"tuesday 11th this is a very loury morning & like for Rain 
But we all agree to Start Early we Cross Cumberland River & travel 
Down it about 10 miles through Some turral)el Cainbrakes as we 
went down abrams nuiir Ran into the River with Iler load & Swam 
over he followd her & got on her & made her Swim Back agin it is a 
very Raney Eavening we take up camp near Richland Creek they 
Kill a Beef Mr. Drake Bakes Bread with out Washing liis hands we 
Keep Sentry this Night for fear of the Indians — "" 

"Wednesday l'-2th this is a Raney morning But we pack up & 
go on we come to Richland creek it is high we toat our packs over a 
tree & swim our horses over & there We meet another Companey 
going Back they tell Such News ABram & Drake is afraid to go 
aney further there we camp this night — " 

"thurs<lay LSth this morning the weather Seems to Brake t^ Be 
fair ABram .5s: Drake turn l)ack we go on & git to loral River we come 
to a creek before wheare we are obliged to unload & to toate our packs 
over on alog this dav we meet about '■20 more turning Back we are 




Wildonies.s Road. On the way u]> east side of Cmnherland (iiip 




Yellow Creek 



Jniirtials of the ]Vildcnicss Rood [■*•'] 

obligd to toat our packs over loral Uiver ^ Swim our Horses one hors 

Ran in witli his pack and lost it in tlie River & tliey "ot it "' (again). 

"fryday 14tli tliis is a clear inornini; with a Snuirt frost we go 

on & have avery mirey Road and eam]) this Night on a creek of 

loral River & are Suri)rised at canij) By a wolf — 

* * * 

"Sunday Kith cloudy ^' warm we Start Early i^: go on aliout 
"i mile down the Itiver and then turn up a creek that we crost ahout 
50 times Some very Bad foards with a great Deal of very good land 
on it the Eavening we git ovei' to the Waters of Caintuck .^ go alittel 
Down the creek ^ there we camj) keej) Sentry the forei)art of the 
night it Rains very hai-(d) all night — " (over lioone's da]) to the 

head of Brushy Fork of Silver (reek.) 

* * * 

"tuesday '■2.5th in the Eavening we git us a i)laise at the mouth 
of the creek & Begin clearing this day we Begin to live with out 
Bread 

"Wednesday '•2(ith We Begin Building us a house .^ a ])laise of 

Defence to keej) the Indians off 

* * * 

"Satterday "^^th We git our house kivered with Bark (^ move 
our things into it at Night and Begin hou.skeeping Eanock Smith 
Rol)ert Whitledge ^' my self 

"monthly May ye first I go out to look for my mair and Saw 4 
Bofelos the Being the first Ever I saw & I shot one of them hut <lid 
not git him." 

We owe a great deal to Calk. He does not make it necessary for 
us to imagine what were the incidents and trials of the journey to 
Kentucky. lie set these down for us at the time of their happening. 
They got some corn meal and good whiskey; they shot a deer and 
some turkeys, and .saw some butfalos. Some of them were doubtless 
particular, for Calk takes jiains to note that Drake baked bread 



[50] Tlic JVilfhriicss Road to Kcnfiicl,-// 

witlioul wasliiiii;- liis liaiids. Later tlu'v lived witlioiit liread. Fear of 
Indians dislurlied llieiii. They were concei-ned ahoiit tlie weather; 
tlie roads were miry: tlie creeks were uiily and liad sleep hanks, and 
they liad to ci-oss tlieni many times. Sometimes tliey were swollen 
and the paiiy had to "tote'" their ])aeks across on lo^s and swim the 
horses, "^riie ])acks came ort' in mid-stream; the horses ran away; 
and allo.i^ether there were at times snch " Ihislralions"" as would 
make a less im])erturljahle man than Calk record a comj)laint. That 
he never uttered a serious one showed the scIkioI of experience in 
which he had hceii ti'ained. 




Outline Map 

or 7-H£ 

F='JO/W£tF? f^OADS TO KeHTUCKY 
THKFOUOU CuMBergLAsn Qap 



Chapter I\' 

The Gencvdl Course (uul Features of the Road 

THK Wilderness Koad l)egau at the Hlock House in \"ir<;inia. 
wliieli was situated tive miles northeast of the South Fork of 
the Holston River at the in..uth of Hee.ly Creek and nearly a nnle 
north (.f the North Carolina — now Tennessee— line. Its early ini- 
portanee lay in two faets: ( 1 ) It stood at the entranee to the wilder- 
ness; it was the last station on the road to Keidueky in the Holston 
settlement. (^2) Also, it was the point where the roud from the north- 
east from Virginia and Pennsylvania and the road from the southeast 
fr.mi North Carolina met. East of this ix.int several roads eonverged 
to form these tw(. main thoroughfares: west of it there was one lone 
trail to Kentueky. 

The great thoroughfare from the northeast resulted from two 
main lines of travel, one e.nning out of Philadelphia through Lan- 
easter, York. (;et tyshurg. Ahhottslown an<l Ilagerstowu crossing 
the Potomae at Wadkin's Ferry, thenee throngh Martinshurg. Md.. 
and np the Shenandoah XMey through Winehester, Staunton, and 
Lexington. It continued in the trough between the mountains. 
across various streams that make up tlie headwaters of the James 
River to the (ireat Lick, where Roanoke. Va.. is now located, an.l 
Salem. Between Salem and Ingles" Ferry, at Radfonl, on New River. 
it passed the divi.le between the Atlaidic waters an.l those of the 
Ohio lliver. Crossing New River at Ingles' Ferry it passed south- 
west down throngh th(> present towns of Pulaski. Max :Meadows. 
AVyethville. :Mari(.n ami Abingdon, (Washington Court House,) 
touching North Carolina on the head of Reedy Creek, to the Hlock 

:,\ 



[.52] The Wildcrncsft Bond to Kriitiicli// 

House. Ingles' Ferry at Radford, still in the hands of the Ingles' 
family, (19'-20). and Fort Chiswell were the important early stations 
on the road, and. after the Block House, the most imi)ortant jnoneer 
stations between the Fast and Kentucky. It is a matter of interest, 
showing how well the road from Philadelphia to the lilock House fol- 
lowed the best topographical lines, that the present Blue Book Auto- 
mobile Routes, which, joined together, make the best road from 




Lono- Isluiut (oil left) and tlio Hotston in 

fluo(L KinRsport at mouth of Roedy 

("reek in distanee at ri^lit 

Philadelphia to Bristol. Tenn.. follow for almost their entire length 
this old piimeer road. 

The other road, from liiciinumd, ran almost directly west 
through Chesterfield. Powahatan, Cumberhiud. Buckingham. Ap- 
pomattox, Campbell and Bedford Counties, crossing the Blue 
Jlidge at Blue Ridge Cap into Bottecourt County, and meeting the 
road from the Shenandoah Valley at Big Flat Lick, (Roanoke,) or 
about where Salem now stands. Fort Chiswell was about seventy- 
five miles further on. 

The road from North Carolina came up from the Yadkin \ alley 
through Salisbury, Huntsvillc. Vadkinvillc. an. I Wilkeshoro. It 
crossed the Blue Ridge Moimlaiiis between Flkville and Boone and 
crossed Stone Mountains, in the present Tennessee, at ZionviUe, 







'j*;^-' ^*^''' 




Reedy (reek iie;ir iimiilli at Kingsport, Tenn. 



The General C'diirse and Features of the Road [5.5] 

X. ('.' TliriK-e it went across tlio iiortlieast (•(•rner of the present 
state of Tennessee l)y Walan.ua to TiOny- Island in the Sontli Fork of 
the Holston, and Fort Patrick Henry. ( Kin,<>si)ort ). at the junction 
of the North and South Forks of the Holston, and thence on to 
the Block House. 

The road from the Block House to Harrodshurii,- or Boones- 
horough was about 'i'lii miles hme;. Leaving the Block House it first 
made its way somewhat north of west for ;5.") miles over Clinch and 
Powell ]\[ountains. to Powell \'alley, then il l)ore down upon ( 'unihcr- 
land Gap almost directly west, through Powell \'alley for 4.') miles. 
Then it climhed ( "unihcrland (lap. and. 1.) miles further, almost 
directly north, it found the ga[) in Pine Mountain and the ford of 
the Cuml)erland at Pincville. From that point it threaded its way 
for 100 miles in a northwest coui-se through the foothills (tf the 
('uml)erlan(l Mountains in Fastern Kentucky and emcMged u|)on the 
plateau of Central Kentucky at Crab Orchaid and on the Booues- 
boi'ough trace at Berea. 

What were the determining features in the location of this road 
and how in the maze of streams and forests and mountains were 
these features found and utilized? The essential key to this route is 
Cumt)erland Cap, for the Cumberland INIountains running northeast 
and southwest betw^een Virginia and Kentucky and across Eastern 
Tennessee offer an impassal)le barrier to the west for a hundred miles 
except at Cumberland Cap. Of no less importan<'e is the gap in 
Pine ^Mountain at Pineville. With these two gaps found no great 
barriers exist to prevent the traveler from getting into Kentucky. Hut 
without the gap in Pine Mountain, Cumberland Caj) would simply 
have allowed the explorer to reach the interminable series of moun- 
tain ranges through which Walker floundered to no i)ur])ose in 17.50. 
The next point of critical importance, after Caunberland Gap and 

1 Magazine Daiigliters of tlie American Revolution, April 1914. page "HI, 
Daniel Boone Trail. 



[.5<i] The H^ildcnic.ss Road to Kcuiiic},\// 

tlie yap in I'iiu' ^Mountain, is [Moccasin (Jap in tlu> Clinch ^foun- 
tains, the only yaj) through these mountains allowing access to the 
Clinch Valley. Little if any less important was the way up Stock 
Creek over Purchase Ridge and over Powell Moimtain at Kane's 
Gap. With these gaps found, the location of the road is a matter of 
following topographical lines of least resistance. These lines are rough 
and forbidding, hut they did not otfer impossible resistance to the 
passage of the pioneer traveler. 

The first explorers found many of these paths already laid out. 
The buffalo had doubtless trodden them first. .Vfter him the Indian 
had gotten to use them, and had made some of them his highways. 
Cumberland (iap was certainly one of the Indian's chief passes. The 
pioneer ex])lorers found their highway well defined across it. This 
road, known as the Warriors Path, had come down through Ohio from 
Sandusky, crossed the ( )liio Ri\er at the mouth of the Scioto, and hail 
gone almost south by Blue Lick through the mountains of Eastern 
Kentucky, until it struck the Cumberland Ki\cr at Pineville: it had 
gone south up Yellow Creek to Cumberlaml (iap and had continued 
south from Cund)erland (ia]) to its destination in the couidry of the 
Cherokees on the Tennessee. .\11 along the route the pioneer explorer 
found l)uffalo paths, or Indian trails, which furnished him a path. 

But the explorei- had first to locate these p'.iths, and then had 
to coimect them up. Sitting with the topogra])hical niai)s of this 
country before one, in which every detail of the surface has been 
carefully surveyed, and recorded, it seems an easy matter to lay out 
this trail. But when one undertakes actually to follow its course 
over its two hnndi-ed and twenty miles' length, through the innumer- 
al)le gaps by which it made its way through the mountains, across 
the shallows in the many streams where it found fords, over the hills 
where it left the streams for a shortei' way, when one follows it 
throughout its course from the Block House to Booneslwrough and 
Crab Orchard, and remembers that the pioneers found this oidy 




Moccasin Gap 




Kane's (lap 



Tlic Criiicrdl Course aud Fcnturcs af the Road [*^l] 

practicable entrance to Kentucky from the Southwest, he cannot 
fail to he impressed with the topographical instinct and engineering 
intelHgence of the first travelers. Speed says justly of Boone's 
judgment in laying off the road to Boonesl)()rough: "It re(|uired 
a mind of far more than ordinary calihre to locate through more than 
two hundred miles of mountain wilderness a way of travel, which, 
for one hundred years, has remained practically unchanged, and 
upon which the state has stamped its approval by the expenditure of 
vast sums of money appropriated for its imjjrovement."* 

The toi)ogra])hical intelligence used in the location of the 
original road to Kentucky is illustrated even better by the way in 
whicli the present railroads follow its course. Between the head- 
waters of the Holston and Central Kentucky they have found no 
other route. If one takes a through car from Bristol, Tenn., to Louis- 
ville. Ky.. he follows for nearly the entire distance between ^loccasin 
Gap and Standford. Ivy., the course of tlie Wilderness Road: and if, 
at Rock ("astle River, he changes to a Cincinnati train he follows 
Boone's Path to Boonesborough. The only place where the railroad 
diverges widely from the Wilderness Road is in the u|)])er part of 
Powell ^'alley. Leaving the WiUlerness Road at Dutfield the rail- 
road goes north to Big Stone Gap, and then goes southwest, and 
meets the Wilderness Road again '•2.> miles fi-oni Cuinl)erland Gap. 
In doing this the railroad gets an easy pass over Powell Mountain 
and gx)es around Wallen Ridge, but at the expense of about thirty 
additional miles. The pioneer made no such concession to steep 
mountain grades. The trend of his road is directly west from Duffield. 
along the short line to Cumberland Gap. This tendency of the jjioneer 
traveler to take the short course wherever practical)le is shown in 
many places along the route wliere the length of the old road is 
shorter ])etween stations than that of the railroad. The })roposed 
automobile route from Louisville to Bristol, Tenn., through Cumber- 
land (jap follows the old road even more closely. 



[02] 



The WUderncHS Baud ia Kcnfucki/ 



TllK (IkXKHAL FkATTUKS of TlIK HoAl) 

Tlu" road tlii-()iii;hi>ut its whole k'nu'tli was ledious ami dilliciill. 
Kxcc])! for 40 miles down Powell \'alley tliroiiKli a liill\- hut not 
mountainous eounlry. its entire course was hard uoiiiu,' throuii'h 
mountainous districts. Henderson's joui'ual indicates that for the 
hi-sl <i() miles of its course there was some sort of a wa,u(Ui i-oad. hut 




Wild.Tiicss Road. \i tlie start up ea.-t >i(lc of ( 'niiilMTlaii.i (.ap 

throuiih ("umherland (iaj) and the mountains of Kentucky it was 
simi)ly a iiridle path. The road had heen in use twenty years before 
it was made a wa.i;(>u road, followinii an act of the Kentucky legisla- 
ture, in l?!)."). Before that time the 10(1. (»()(» immiiirants to Kentucky 
over the road had lra\-eled most of its two hundrecl miles on foot or 
on horsehack; and the hest carrier of freight that could traverse 
I he i-oad was the horse with the pack saddle. Its entire lenuth was 
ihrouuli a country where the rock is on. or near, the surface, and it i.s 
alwa\s rough and stony. As one sees, for example, the l)oul(lers 




Wilderness Roixl l<i K.nir s (iap on I'owell .Mountain 



The (rourctl C'lmrsc (tnd Fecit ii res of ihc RidkJ [65] 

that are strewn aloii^' tlie road that succeeded tlie l)iidle patli over 
Cumberland (iap, he wonders how a wheeled vehicle ever negotiated 
it. The worst sections of the road were bridle paths over which a 
horse could make his way with ditticulty. 

Speed and Ilulburt say that the pioneer in locating;' his roads 
avoided the water courses. This is not true of the Wilderness Road. 
The pioneer traveler was not afraid of hills, and did cut across them 
to save distance, but for nearly its whole length the Wilderness Road 
followed the streams. It went uj) IVIoccasin Creek, down Trouble- 
some Creek, nj) Clinch River, up Stock Creek, down Wallen Creek 
down Station Creek, down Yellow Creek, along the Cumberland 
River. And when it left the water-courses and took to the mountains, 
it went uj) the mountains and down them along streams that made \^ 

the grades easier. The traveler over the road, therefore, had con- 
stantly to meet the obstacles offered by streams, boggy lands, drift 
wood and fallen timber. 

Between the Block House and Crab Orchai-d the road crossed 
five rivers of considerable size: The North Fork of the Holston, 
The Clinch, Powell River, The Cumberland, and liock Castle River. 
Between these it crossed creeks innumerable, many of them, like 
Stock Creek, the North Fork of the Clinch, Indian Creek, Yellow 
Creek, Big Clear Creek. Richland Creek, Laurel River, Little Rock 
Castle River and the head of Dix River, streams of considerable sizel 
Some of the pioneer journals testify to the difficulties of these creeks. 
They were troublesome at their best; in times of high water they 
made impassable obstacles. The Clinch and the Cumberland are the 
largest streams which it forded. These were only fordable when the 
water was not high. The fords of the rivers were points of great 
importance, and they were selected with great care. Always they 
were across .shallows in the rivers made either by bars or by ledges 
of I'ock. There is a good deal of similarity in the way the road took 
most of these fords. It a])i)roached over the most eligible ground to the 



[<••<!] 



The fnidcnicss liotid to Kcutiicl'n 



ri\cr"s hank, and tlu'ii usually wcul uj) or down the river for a sliort 
(lislauci- in sonu- cases as luueli as 400 or .jOO yards - until it readied 
the shallow ])laee. There it crossed, and usually returned on the other 
hank neai- to the point o|)|)osite wliei-e the road HrsI met the river. 
Thei-e is such a hair |)iu eur\-e in llu' road at the ford of the Ilolston, 
of Powell River, of the Cuiuherland. and of the Koek Castle. 

Travel o\-er the road was hard of coui'se. Thei'c is much testi- 
niiuiy to this fact. And it is almost impossihle for us to understand 
how the a|)|)urtenances of a well developed ci\ili/,al ion could lia\'e 
lieen carried cliiefl\- o\-er this I'oad lo the "-iOO.OOO jx'ople in Kentucky 
before ISOO. One can realize how I ryinu the journey was to the women 
and children. Hut it must he said that the joinnals of the ])ioneer 
tra\-eU'rs o\'er it waste little tiuie in lamentation. They uiention 
their diflicult ics. and their accitleuts. Iml these are chiefly the loss 
of a doii. or a pack in ci-ossinu a stream, or the lack of hrcad. and 
similar thiuus. The road itself they simi)ly took as a mat tcr of course, 
with little to say ahout its dithculties. In HrowiTs journal, for ex- 
ami)le, which is the most dclaile(| and ihouyhtful account of the 
I'oad. not a complaint of it is L;i\('n. In ('alk's pictures<|ue record 
there ai-e diflicnltics innuiucrahlc. hut no complaints of tlieui. Some 
parts of the road are sjjoken of as roui;li. hut in no ])lace is there a 
suuii'cstion iiiven that tlu'ii- passage was a |)articular hanlship. That 
is not. of course, evidence in fa\'or (if the character of the I'oad; it is, 
rather. e\id(Mice of the sturd\' (pialities of the men who traveled 
it. 

The i^real diiiicully of the journey was th'- dauni-r of Indians. 
-Vs late as 17!>0 this was a menace. The ti-ax'elcrs ])rolecte(l tliem- 
sehcs by wait iny at t lu' Block I louse, oi- ( 'i-ali ( )rchard, until ])arl ics 
of snllicienl strcniith could be collectc(l to defend llicmscbcs against 
attack by wandei'ini; pai'ties of Indians. They counted the streuiith 
of these parties by the number of i^uns in ihem. Thus Hrowu men- 
tions thai his j)art\ set out from the Ulock House with \'l nuMi and 




%G^-^-l-'-^ 



The WiMcniess Road apiinMrliiii- the did Ford alon- tlic hank of Xorlli Fork 
of HoKtoii, Rivor ill Icfl of picturo 



Tin- Cicncvdl Course and Features of the Road [<>i^] 

10 guns. Speed lias i)iil)lishe<l many advertisements from the Ken- 
tucky (iazette tliat jjarties would start from Cral) Orchai-d to go 
through the wilderness on definite dates, and some of these advertise- 
ments exhorted the men to come armed. They evidently did not set 
muc-h store on their traveling companions who were without guns. 

It is interesting to consider how rapidly the early pioneer 
travelers used to cover this route on foot. In 1774. before the Wilder- 
ness Road was marked out, Boone and Michael Stoner went from the 
Clinch to the Falls of the Ohio and back, (about 700 miles,) on foot 
in sixty-two days. Boone's party in 1775 made the '■^00 miles from 
the Block House to the site of Fort Estill in 15 days. William Brown 
records that it took him 7 days to reach the Head of Dix River from 
the Block House, (:200 miles,) in 178^2. The most marvelous per- 
formance recorded is that of Logan, who, in 1777, when his station 
was getting out of ammunition and was besieged by Indians, made 
the round-tri]:) to the Holston in 10 days, most of the way no! using 
the trail in order to avoid Indians, and bringing annuunilion back 
with him. 

But with all of the difficulties and hardships of the road, travel 
over it had its compensations to the vigorous or youthful i)ioneer. 
He had to overcome stones and mud and mountains, but he was in 
the wilds, untranuneled by the restrictions of occupied lands. He 
had no expenses; for besides salt, and, if he was lucky, bacon and 
flour, he lived up(m the country. Game was alnmdant. It was a. 
capital necessity with him aufl furnished his main supi)ly of footl. 
He was buoyed uj) by the spirit of adventure; he was going over a 
wild road to a new country. The scenery, to which there is e\'idence 
he was not insensitive, had many attractions. It was all mountainous. 
Very often the traveler was shut in by the mountain sides; but in 
many places, as going over Powell Mountain, Wallen Ridge, and 
Cumberland Gap he had glorious views from mountain heights of 
deep, wide valleys. In his long march down Powell \';dley he was in 



[70] Tlic WUdcnu'x.s Eoad to Kcnl iick// 

the open country, with the fine rugged range of Cumberland Moun- 
tain on liis west. Through most of his journey the mountains were 
softened l)y tlie hhiish haze that usually envelopes these mountains. 
I have seen no lovelier pictures than some moonlight scenes through 
the haze in Powell A'alley and on the upper Cumherland. 



DETAIL MAPS 

OF 

THE WILDERNESS ROAD 



S '-.EnL0OICAL> SURVEY 



TDPOSS.AF.riY 



l?^^^m5^PWT^''S^?'^^ ' -V ^"/ '-: 




II;irro(Isl)ur<;' to ("ral* Onli.iiM 



TDPOQ^iAPHY 







^^r 




-f^k^^^ -::^^i 






-A „i,-y-'_i- 



Boonesborough to Boone's Gap 







'f^ 


iVT^ 


^ 
^ 




i 





('rah Orcliard and Mooiic's (lap to IJaccoon Spriiii;- 



:RG!NIA-"re;NNESSEK 



r 




^l,'AriiJ;l7; 


I 


*i ^OXD «P 


179,5 .^ 


~P""".'"",' 








>^^77-•'^•' 


'■?K 








v 


f > , 







> ! ) 






l.lTTLt.|tr.CHLAno.CteEOlllO|<tl,(wSy 



?> 






Bouxzir^ .&v< v 



O 






1 -J 



-'-'■; '-x 



/"T 



a )1 



>-•-■ W--fi I T I. JT, Y 



,;^' 






\./ 



CuMBtiTLAHD Mr Gai 

- 8 PI, (wB.) 



— Staxiom heiS£_ 
■4MI- ^FBon c c^ 



\ 



v- \. 



() 






/- 



X ^^-.^-1^. 



\ 



ii c^ cJ \ 



u^V. fU. ;-^ ,'^ ^ 



-Tk 



Racct)oii Spriiifi', Keiitiicky. to IJiy Spring;, ^'iI•gi^i;l 




Hi^' Si)riiig to I'dwcll Hixcr 



\, 



f: u / 






-;/■ 



:^ \\\\ \\ L A N 






T '^^ ^ ' 



'\ 



-iV V^ 



■':■? 




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/■■^^■'"'.^y^^ 






...nA^. 








,_-rv-- 



.9_-:^-5- 



"vy^' 



^ylJ-l.illVA X 



A . W 



1 -^ X'^V^^'S. 



Powell River to Block House 



Chapter V 

The Detailed Location of the Road 
from the Blockhouse to Cumberland Gap 

THE AVilderiiess Roail' has a very con,si(leral)le literature. James 
Lane Allen has idealized it in his Blue Grass Region of Kentucky. 
At least three hooks have heen written upon it. The solid contri- 
bution to its history is "Tlie ^Yilderness Road." hy Tlunnas Speed, 
published by the Filson Club of Kentucky. Ilulburt in his "Historic 
Highways" has devotefl a volume to "Boone's Wilderness Road"; 
and Addington Bruce, in his "Daniel Boone and the Wilderness 
Road," has given us another work in which the old road is the central 
topic. The road also has the distinction of having its course indi- 
cated at numerous points by tablets which were erected by the 
Daughters of the American Revolution of North Carolina. >'irginia 
and Kentucky to mark Boone's trail from the Yadkin to Boones- 
borough. No one has. however, recorded its location accuiatcly in 
the literature. Speed does not undertake to give the location of the 
road beyond indicating its general course. He seems to have in 
mind the lack of knowledge of its location when he says: "But the 
direction, character, and features of the roads are but little under- 
stood." His map of tlie road is a mere outline and misplaces the 
road l)etween the Block House and Cumberland (iap. Hulburt does 
not locate the road with any more detail than does wSpeed, and he 
does not venture a map of it. Bruce, who has made a very scholarly 

^Some confusion arises in the use of tlie term "Wiklerness Road" to designate 
the road from Virginia to Kentucky, for the reason that in some locahties the course 
of tlie road lias heen changed and distinction is made between the\Yilderness Road 
and the Wilderness Trail. For cxainjile; Northwest of Rartiourvillc, Ky.. the trail 



[84] The JJUdcnic.ss Hoad to Kcutuvl-tj 

.stuily of tlie l)eiiinnin,n- of Kentucky, and of the ])art tliat Daniel 
Boone played in it. yives a valuaMe map of the early west, in which 
he actually locates the Wilderness Uoad as far as Cunilierland Gap 
in the wrong state, placing it in Tennessee. It is well within the facts, 
therefore, to say. i)araj)hrasing Speed, that its direction and features 
are little known. 

This is not true for the most i)art. however, of the local knowl- 
edge of tlie I'oad in the coiunuuiities through which it ])assed. In 
these the tradition of the road is firndy estalilisheil. and hy persistence 
one can always find intelligent ])ersons in the various localities, to 
whom the local knowledge of the road ha> l)eeu hauiled down hy 
oral counnunication. or who lune interested themselves in accurately 
determining its location through court records or through old docu- 
ments that have been ])reserved in the conununity. 

In early days the road was a landmai'k: It was "Boone's 
Path."" "'the Iveiducky Path." "the Kentucky Trace."" "the Ken- 
tucky Road."" "the Road to Caintuck."" "the (ireat Road."" "the 
(Ireat ^^estern Road. " (R. M. Addington). In Kentucky it was the 
"Wilderness Road."" "The Road through the Great Wilderness." 
It was used as an estal)lishe(l line in sui-vey>. many of which are pre- 
serveil in deeds of record or in i)rivate sur\ey hooks. Through this 
various sort of information one can establish with practical certainty, 
(I am incliueil to say certainty.) the actual location of most of the 
road. For e\amj)le: From the literature on the subject I su])i)osed 

of ITT.J followed one course, and tlio ro;id ])ro\idetl for l)y tiie Iveiitucky Legislature, 
wiiicli was opened in 179.5. followed another. In this district the road of 177.5 is 
railed the Wilderness Trail and the road of 179.5 the Wilderness Road. Then, 
later, in this loeality. both of tliese roads gave way. as the main traveled road he- 
tween Barhoiirville and London, to another road laid otf in liSoO; and nowthisroad 
as the main traveled road Ijetween these points, has been succeeded by a road still 
further south, which goes through Corbin. I have had in mind in locating the road 
the old road of 177,5. This was the imi)ortant ])ioneer road. By 179,5 this road had 
begun to divide its imi)ortance with the Ohio River Roiilc In Kentucky, and after 
ISdO rauidlv lost importance. 



The Detailed Loeatioii of the lioad [85] 

the Block House was at Kingsport, Tenn.. at the junction of the North 
and South Forks of the Ilolston. AVhen I visited that phice I found 
that it was not at Kingsport, l)ut, on inquiry among residents there, 
I found that its location was well known and that it was in Virginia 
about five miles northeast of Kingsport. The locations of most other 
lan<lmarks were easily determined as soon as one could get in touch 
with tlie intelligent older natives of the comnumities in which these 
landmarks had stood. In many places the history of the road has 
been investigated by residents of districts through which it passed: 
Thus Prof. K. ^l. Addington, of Gate City. Va., has verified the 
location of tlie road by examinaticm of court records of Lee and Scott 
Counties, Va., and as well as of records in the Draper Collection at the 
University of Wisconsin. The exact location of the old ford of the 
Cumberland is not oidy preserved by tradition at Pineville, but its 
location, and the location of the road adjacent to the ford, were 
accurately established a few years ago by research, because these 
facts were needed in an imjjortant law suit involving title to land. 
Again, the location of the roa<l in the neighborhood of Barbourville, 
Ky., has l)een verified by the study of court records and old survey 
books by Mr. Thos. 1). Tinsley, of Barbourville, Ky. And S(» it is 
throughout the course of the road. It has often ))een dithcult to 
find those who could give reliable information ujjon its location, but 
by persistence such persons could usually be found. 

My first endeavor was the location of the landmarks mentioned 
in William Brown's journal. I'ntil I went to Ivings])orl and found 
that the Block House was not there, but was five miles away, I was 
unable even approximately to trace the road from his jouinal. After 
the Block House was located in its correct position the approximate 
location of the road from the journal was easy. The definite loca- 
tions of the less known landmarks, such as Little Flat Lick, Glade 
Spring, Martin's Station, the head of Dix River, and of points where 
the road crossed Powell ^lountain, Powell River. Richland Creek, 



[86] 



The fnidcnicxs liodd in KcHtiicki/ 



Laurel River, and Hock ("astle liixcr wei-c liradually developed, 
usually as the result of corresjjoiideiice or personal iuc|uiry when I 
was on the ground. It was surprisini;' how nnicli incjuiry was neces- 
sary before some of these landmarks could he located. ^^ itli the 
landmarks of the road found, the location of the road hetweeu tliem 
can almost i)e inferred without the helj) of further information. 




fW-^>' --^ ' -^ ' ' 

Tlie aliaiiddiied Wilderness Rojid near Hrodliead, k. iilih L.\ 

although this is usually available: for the road invariably billowed 
the shortest pi-acticablc coni-se. and the old roail is ueai'ly always i)re- 
serveil in a ])rcseiil road. The tendency of the oriyiual road to b)llow 
the shortest ])raclicable course is strikini;. .\ number of times in my 
investigation of the i'oa<l my first understauiliui;' was that the I'oad 
f()llowe(l a course which luiMied out to be not the most direct one 
between known points on the road. Whcrcvci- this has been the 
case, fuller knowlcMlne has shown that this orii;inal impri'ssion was 
wron.u. and that the actual coui'sc of the road pro\-ed to Ik- the 
more direct one. Whei'e the old road is ])resei-\ed in a |)rcseul road 



Tlic Detailed I.ocalioii of the Road [87] 

this is usually the main traveled road, althougli occasionally another 
road has succeeded it as the thoroughfare. In many places the pre- 
sent road, while following tlie old route, has been re-located in recent 
years in building a modern highway. This is the case through 
Powell \'alley for twenty miles north of Cumberland Gap, and from 
Cumberland (iap west for most of the way as far as liroadhead. 
Where this has been done the old road often ])arallels the present 
road, or crosses it l)ack and forth, and in these j)laces it remains as 
]>lain and gaunt a trail as when it was in use. Al)andoned stretches 
of the old road of this sort gave me my most vivid impression of it. 
In the maps rei)roduced herewith the road has been indicated 
in the toi)ographical (|uadrang]es of the United States (leograpliical 
Survey. These maps, drawn on a scale of I 2 inch to the mile, and 
showing in minute detail the natural features of the terrain, enable 
one to give the location of the road and the topographical reasons for 
the location more vividly than can be done by any verbal descrip- 
tion. Without them the accurate location of the road throughout its 
course would ha\e been for me im])ossible. It is very lucky that they 
cover the entire territory, with one short exception, from the lilock 
House to Ilarrodsburg. for beyond the Harrodsburg c|nadrangle 
Kentucky for the most part has not l)ceii niappt-d. The only part 
of the road which is not covered by a topographical map is a stretch 
of the road about five miles long, including ("rab Orchard. Fortu- 
nately this part of the road has been recorded in a '"Map of the Old 
Wilderness Road Through Lincoln County. Kentucky,"" jmblished 
l)y the Lincoln County National Bank of Stanford. Ky.. a copy of 
which, after a good deal of ert'ort, the bank was able to obtain for me. 

The Wilderness Road proper liegan at the Block House. The 
roails from the north and the south brought the traveler to this ])oint. 
The Block House was the last station before Moccasin Caj), or Big 
Moccasin (iap, the gate to the Indian country, and about the .same 



[H8] The ff 'ildcnnss lioiid to Kciil iich'i/ 

(listMiicc t'roiii llic iin|)(ntanl wrslcni rriidt'zvous of llu' Ilitlslou 
pioiK'ors, Loiiii' IsImikI. in llio Soutli l-'ork of tlie Ilolston River. It 
wiis. of course, for tiiese reasons thai llie early travelers to Kentucky 
were used to u.iUier al the Block House in order to form parties for 
liie trip lo Kenlueky. 

Tlie Block llou^e was estahlislieil ahoni 1777. jx-rliaps even in 
177.) when Boone's |)arly weid out, l>y ('ai)laiii John Anderson' who 
lived in it from that time until his death. It was located in Carter's 



'('ni)t. .loliii Aiulcrsdii l.iiill I lie block lioiisc und lived in it all his life tliere- 
at'lcr. He w.is Ixini in Aui^usla Co.. Va., May (ilh, 17r)() and died Oft. IJitli, 1817. 
lie married llehecca Maxwell .l.ni. I'itli, 177.".. (Manuscript Cenealoiiy of the 
Anderson Family.) 

The <'arliest mention of liim. in this .section seems to he as an inmate of Fort 
Ulackmon-. in 1774. the year of the I'oint Pleasant ('am|)aifiii. 

On .Ian. 'i!)th, 1777, he was appointed hy the \Vashinii;ton County Court, as 
one of a ((iinniission of Ihrei' to hire w.-iuoiis to hrini^ up the county's allow.-ince of 
salt. 

The .\cl of I.eiiislalurc which created Washinuton County, also conunissioned 
.liihii .\udcrsou .lust ice of the I'ejice. .\t the -ame t<Min of Court, he was also ap- 
pointed to take a list of llie tilheahles "from Major .Vnthony Bledsoe's as long as 
there arc settlers." (Sumner's Ilisl. Soulhw<-st \"a.l This last mentioned circum- 
sl.incc would seem to juslify 1 he iTifercnce that \\c was livinji al the Block House 
ahoul this lime. (1777) for nicii who were appointed to take the titheahles were 
schhun rcipiired to ii» \cry far from the neighborhood in which they lived, in the 
perfiirmauce of such ser\ ice. Major Bledsoe lived east of Kini^sport. This section 
was then considered a pari of Washiuiiton County. \'a. 

■■()u motion, -lolm .Vnderson, Cilberl CiuMslian. -lames Fllii>l. .lame- Fulker- 
soii were ai)poiutcd Commission(>rs "to \iew a road fr((m (ieorge Blackburn's by 
.lames Fulkersou's lo the fork of the path leading lo Kentucky and the mouth of 
IJeedy Creek." (1777 Court lleeords of Washington Co., Va.) The "forks" were 
jus! west of .Vrca.dia, 1 think, in the Block House neighborhood. 

In 17S(). ('apt. .lolm .Vnders(m was named a .lust ice of the I'eace for Sullivan 
Co.. N. C. Thiscircumsl.ince adds to the probability that he was then li\ ing at the 
Block l!(Uise because there w.is such an overlaj.ping of claims as to the boundary 
line between \irginia .-nul N(U-th Carolina, and the Block House was so near the 
strip in controversy that mitil the slate boundar,\ li.id b<-en given somewhat de- 
limle location, .b.hn .\ud<-rson himself hardly knew lo w hiih state he owed .tHc- 
giancc. 

In I St.-. he was.'lioscu high shcritV of Scot! C.uuly which ollice he li.-ld .il the 
time of his dc.-ilh. lie seems lo ha\c built the Block House sometime belwecu 1777 
and 17S(I. 

il.cltcr of K. M. .\ddiuglou Dec. (i. l!l'20l 




House on exact site of Block House 




The old spring a I tlif Ulnck House 




Carter's Valley, looking east from the Block House. The old road to Vh-ginia 
aTid Pciiiisvlvania at right 



The Dffdihd Loc/itioii (if tlic Iioad 



[9.3] 



Valley at a point wlieir the liills open out into a valley half a mile 
wide and a mile long. Tlii.s little valley is today a meadow .surrounded 
by wooded hills. The spot is a pleasant one in a rough country. 
The location of the fort itself was determined, as always at these 
stations, by the presence of a good spring. The fort stood uj)on a 
.small hill above the spring and looked east up the valley. 




Ncai lilixk Hou.se ou old roiid I'loni Long Island. 

Just l);K'k of tlii.s liouse is the Fork where the Wiklernes.s 

Road to Kentucky left the Lonu; Island Road 



The old road to the Block House from Long Island, at the mouth 
of Reedy Creek, still exists. This is the road which Boone followed 
on his journey of 177.5. 

/ From the l?lock House the present road through INIoccasin 
Gaf). Gate City, Speer's Ferry. Clinchixtrt, Duffield to Kane's Gap 
in Powell ^Mountain is in i)ractically the exact location of the Wilder- 
ness Road. The first landmark of the old I'oad after lea\ing the 
Block House was the ford of the Ndrlli Fork of (lie Ilolslon, two 
miles distant. The old ford is about ;5()(l yards u]) the river from the 
l)reseut bridge, ami Ihc old road, a])proacliing the ford u|» the south 



[or,] 



Tlic inhhrius.s Ixodd to Kciifiickj/ 



bank of tlie rivi-r and goiny down the nortli hank, still exists. Four 
mik's heyond tliis is INIoccasin (iap whicli furnished the only ])ass\vay 
through the ( lineli ^Mountains from the settlements on the Ilolston 
to the Clineh ^ alley. It is traversed Ity Mii;' Moccasin Creek, and is 
a perfect gaj). whicli allows ])assa.iie witliout grades thi'ouyh this 




A ty])i(al gaj) on Wiidcnicss IJoad. In ( 'alter s \'alk'y 
near IJlofk House 

otherwise difficult mountain range. One mile heyond Moccasin Cia]) 
stood Fariss' Station in the outskirts of the i)resent town of (iate 
City, Va. On the Court House there is one of the lahlets of tlu' 
Daughters of the .Vmerican Revolution marking the lioone I'ath. 

From Moccasin (iap to the Clinch River the road found an al- 
most perfectly straight westerly course hetween the Clinch Moun- 
tains and jVloccasin Ridge, up the valley of Lilth> [Moccasin (reek. 
and down the valley of Trouhlesome Crt-ek. It crossed hy a \-ery 
easy grade the watiM'slu-d hetween llie Ilolston and the Clinch which 
is situated at the ])oint now called Hig Cut. The \alley of Moccasin 
and Trouhlesome Creeks for the entire distance is a narrow nwv. \l 



77/c Detailed Loeatiati of the R(huJ [97] 

sonu' i)laces it spreads out into a pleasant valU\\", l)ut ])articiilarly 
going' down Troublesome Creek it is for the most part so narrow that 
it hardly furnishes location for the state roads and the two railroads 
which traverse it. The last half-mile of the ])reseiit road going west, 
l)efore reaching the Clinch is not located on the old road. For this 
half mile Troul)lesome Creek forms a gorge so narrow that the only 
way for the ])ioneer to have traversed it would lia\e heen to follow 
the creek bed, and. as one goes over the road which has been l)uilt 
here now, he can well realize what a com])lete obstacle to its use by 
the pioneer as a road the pools, the rocks and ledges, the fallen trees, 
and the driftwood in it would have made. (The old road left the 
present road at Speer's Ferry railroad station, went up over the hill 
and came down a ravine to the Clinch l{iver a couple of hundreil 
yards below the present Speers Ferry. The old ford across the Clinch 
is located a few yards below a present mill dam, which is "^OO yards 
downstream from the ferry across the river. The old ford was over 
a shoal in the river formed by an exposed ledge of ro:'k, and, although 
the Clinch is a considerable stream, was not a deej:) ford in ordinary 
stages of water. The ford of the Clinch was, of course, a landmark 
on the road. 

The next landmark was the ford of Stock Creek, two miles 
north of the foi-(l of (he Clinch, at the pre^Mit village of Clinchport,) 
and a few hundred yards above the point where the creek em])ties into 
the Clinch. Here is another marker of the IJoone Trail on the village 
school house, but it is not situated on the Wilderness Road. To this 
])oint from Speer's Ferry the road followed closely along the bank 
of the riA'cr through the deep gorge which the Clinch lias cut here. 
Tins I'oad from tlie Hlock House to the foi'd of Stock Creek is the only 
])racticable way in this territory between the Ilolston and the Clinch. 
Although it goes through Clinch Mountain and its foot hills, it is 
without steep grades. Its imj)ortance is shown by the fact that 
two railroads from the west of these mountains come together at 



[08] Tlic fflldrnicss liudd tn Kciitiick// 

('liiichport. parallel each other and the oM road tVoni this point to 
INIoccasiii dap. and a^ain diverge. 

At the foi'd of Stock ( 'reek the hai'(l mountain t ra\el heyins, and 
continues until Powell \'alley is reached on the headwaters of Station 
Creek. The road followed up Stock Creek in a tortuous. stee]>. and 
difficult cHnih o\er the north end of I'urchase or Stock Creek KidiiC. 
In its course up Stock Creek it went around the mountain tliroiiiili 
which Stock Creek has cut the famous Natural Tunnel. It is a 
curious fact liiat altliouuh the road iioi-s within half a mile of the 
Natural Tunnel no mention is made of this freak in any of the })ioneer 
journals. This omission has been ex])lained to me liy local residents 
on the i^round that the Natural '^runncl was not a notcwoi'tliy ohject 
until it was enlarged in ahout 1S!)(» hy the South Atlantic ^ Ohio 
R. K. for use as a railroad tunnel, hut in Henry Howe's Historical 
Collections of \ irginia pulilished in 1S4.) there is an illusti-ation of 
the Natural Tunnel and a description of it as a xcry i-<'markahle 
natural ohject. from the Monthly Journal of (ieology of Fchruary. 
]KVi. A more ])rohal)le c\|)lanat ion. therefore, is that the pioneer 
found it necessary to go around the mountain rather than through 
the tunnel, and the few travelers who ki-j)t journals of their trii)s over 
the i-oad were too much occupied with [\\v affairs of the I'oad to pay 
attention to objects which did not dii-cctly concern them. 

When the road had gotten u|) Slock Creek to the j)resent |)oint 
of Hortou's Summit it had surmounlc(l Purchase Ridge which ends 
with tlie gorge of Stock Creek. In going around Pin-chasc liidgc 
in this way the road had a difficult climli. hut it had a\didcd the 
harder cliiuli w liich is inxohcd in going o\-cr Purchase liidge. I lia\'e 
c-rossed direct l.\ o\'er Pui'chase Ridge, to Patton\illc. and I can testify 
to the fact that it is a diiiicult and sleep chinlp. 

The next iandmai-k on the I'oad was Little l^'lat Lick which was 
located a few hundred yards casi of llic ])resenl Dnilield Station. 
These licks were always [joints of great ini])ortance to the i)ioncer 




Lllllr I'ha I. irk 



The Dcldilcd Location of ilic Jioad [ 101] 

travelers: First, hecause the name, which t're(|ueiite(l tlieni, made 
paths ah)n,ii- the natural loiiti's to the hcks, of which the jjioneers 
availed themselves; and. seeontl, because they att'orded the pioneers 
the easiest opportunities for getting the game which they relied upon 
for food on their journeys. The licks on the road were all important 
landmarks to the pioneers. There was the Big Lick or the Great 
Lick on the road between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghenys at 
Roanoke. \'a. ; Little Flat Lick was here at Dutfield. and in Kentucky 
there was Flat Lick near the railroad station at present called Llat 
Lick on the road midway l)etween Pineville and Barbourville. The 
location of Booneshorough itself was in part determined by the exist- 
ence in the hollow there of a mineral spring which made one of these 
licks. These licks, of so nuich interest to the pioneer traveler, have 
no indication now of their former importance. Little F'lat Lick is 
now a commonplace marshy field where there is a spring. Flat Lick, 
Ky.. is an altogether incons|)icuous little valley situated in a bowl 
between the hills, looking out toward the Cumberland River. And 
the lick at Boonesborough is in a narrow valley covered by sycamore 
trees. There is nothing about these licks, since the wild animals have 
gone, that distinguishes them in the slightest degive fi-om innumer- 
able spots. It is only by remembering that they were once the gather- 
ing place of the buffalo and the deer, and that the ])aths of these 
animals converged on them from all directions, that one understands 
how they were once im])ortant landmarks. 

The pioneers had a short cut across Purchase Ridge from Stock 
Creek to Little Flat Lick, called the Devil's Race Path. It was so 
steep and rough that it was only suital)le for the hardiest foot trav- 
elers. l)ut it saved two miles in distance. At Dutfield is a marker of 
the road. 

One mile beyond Little Flat Lick, and half a mile beyond Dut- 
field, was the next pioneer landmark on the road, the ford of the 
North Fork of the Clinch, here a small creek. Half a mile i)t'von(l 



[l(»-2] TJic Wilderness Road to Kciitiicl,\i/ 

this point l)et;an the stoej) climl) over Powt'll Mountain, wliicli the 
road crossed tlirougli Kane's (lap at an ele\alion of about ",'..)(»(> feet. 
The ehnil) up to the gap was a hard steej) clinil) of aliout foui- miles 
witli a (•orres])on(hni;!y sliarp (k^seent on the western side. There are 
the remains of a i;ra<h'd road througli the (iap now. wiiieh is ahnost 




On fop of Powrll .Mountain 



heyond use. Kven witli this onee yraih'd i-oaiL the way over the (iap 
is (hlhenlt. From the foot of Powell [Mountain on the west the old 
road is represented hy the present road down Wallen Creek to 
Stickleyville. .V short distance from the foot of Powell [Mountain, 
on its west side, was situated Scott's Station. Ueyond the ])resent 
Stickleyville the I'oad passed over Wallen Kidi^e and reached Powell 
Valley on Station ('reek. The climh over Wallen Ridiic was long 
and sleep; not (|uile so long or so high, hut olheruise hke llial o\er 
Powell Mountain. Five miles down Sinlion (reek \ alley from 
AVallen Ridge was situated X'allcN" Station. 




Powell Mountain Ranne from west, showing Kane's Gaj) 




Wilderness Road on Station CreeV;. Wallen Ridge in distance 



The DctdUcd Ijicalidu of ilic liiuuJ [1^7] 

In its course from the Block House to Station Creek the old road 
had found its way across a continuous series of mountain ranges, all 
of which had a northeast and southwest trend, and whose practicable 
crossing was aloni;' this devious j)ath. It had gone through Clinch 
^rountain: climl)ed around Purchase Kidge; and crossed Powell 




Powell Ri 



Mountain and AVallen Ridge. The name Trouhlesome Creek has 
been left as testimony of the difficulties of even the level stretches of 
this part of the road. From the ford of Stock Creek to the valley of 
Station Creek, there was one succession of hard clim]>s and descents. 
AVhen the traveler reached Valley Station he was in Powell 
A alley. Thence to Cumberland Gaj) the road goes over many hills, 
and througli a country that is always rolling, but it has no more 
mountain ranges to cross and no great natural obstacles to overcome. 
From Station Creek the old road followed directly west to Jonesville 
along a ilirect but now little used road. Two miles beyond A'allcy 
Station and st>\'eii miles Ix'xond Wallcn Ridge the road crossed bv 



[108] 



Tlic fnidcriic.ss UiKid to Kciitiich-it 



one of its hair-pin fords Powell River. The next landmark beyond 
Powell River was Glade Spring at the present Jonesville. Va. On the 
retaining wall of the yar<l of the court house at Jonesville is one of 
the Boone markers. 




Wiklerness Road 



in Powell Valley !„■ 
and Boone's Path 



,vill. 



'Col. A. L. Prideniore. of Jone.sville, Lee County. Va.. under date of April 
6th, 1889, writes to Dr. L. C. Draper, in part, as follows: 

"As I wrote you, a long' conversation with Col. Si)ears in which I put to him 
many pointed questions, has led me to doubt somewhat my former tlieory. tiiat 
Boone's son was killed at the mouth of Wallens Creek. In the first ])lace I was 
mistaken in saying that Cumberland Mountain could not be seen from the gorge 
in Wallen's Ridge near the village of Stickleyville: it can be .seen jdainly from near 
the to]) and on the sides but not from the gorge from about '3 the way down but 
the view is not striking and jjronounced like from the mouth of the creek. But 
Col. Spear, says in the date of 180(1, his father removed for the second time to Scott 
County when he was a young man, not over 14 or under 10 years of agcandremem- 
lx?rs well the country at that time. He says his father was followed and sued for a 
debt: that or the following summer, and he would come with his father to this 
place, (Jonesville) to attend the trial, they then lived on the same farm where he 
now lives (on the bank of Coi)per Creek, a sh<)rt distance aliove its mouth at Sjjecrs 
Ferry in Scott County, it was Lee then, and that they traveled the road called 
Boone's path, that they would go uj) Stock Creek, cross over to what is known as the 



The Detailed Liiaiiioii (if Ihc Uddd [l<>9] 

From Joiiesville to witliiii a few miles of ("umberlaiul (lap tlie 
old road is preserved practically in the present direct road between 
these points which is now a State road. From Boone's Path to 

Flat Lick, over Powells mountain to tlie liead of Wallens Creek, down it about .3 
miles to where Stickleyville now is and then turn over the ridge, Wallens, by Rocky 
Statical and on to Jonesville, and I find some old people about here who point out the 
street in this town (Jonesville) said to be Boone's road but by whom they df) not 
know." (Draj)er Mss. 6C '27.) 

I take it that Col. Sj)ear"s statement as here given in Pridemore's letter, is, 
in itself, jjretty nearly conclusive evidence of the location of the Wilderness Road 
from Flat Lick to Jonesville. Col. S])ear traveled over it in bSOO, or ISOl. He de- 
signates it as "Boone's Path." Of course, manv of the jjcopje then living in this 
section knew the location of the "Path." 

Col. Robert Spear, mentioned in the extract from Col. Pridemore's letter, 
lived to be more than 100 years old. He made an active canvass of this country, 
and was elected to the (leneral AssemVilv of Virginia when he had pas.sed his nine- 
tieth year. Col. A. L. Pridemore was born, and reared in Scott County, but lived 
many years near Jonesville, Va. He represented the 9th Virginia District one term 
in Congress. The words enclosed in jjarentheses in the quotations above are mine. 

The Kentucky Path began the ascent of Powell's Mountain not very far from 
Duffield, i)robal)ly about ^ j of a mile west of the tow n. It zigzagged, no doubt, as 
roads usually do in making such ascents. And this zigzagging, no doubt, was changed 
occasionally by fallen timber or other obstructions. Its objective point, so far 
as Powell's mountain was concerned, was Kane's (iap. The surface of the mountain 
on the Duffield side was stee]) though not bluffy. I am told that a Mr. Bostic drove 
a wagon wherever he wanted to go on the mountainside, in gathering tanbark a few- 
years ago. In descending the steeper places he had only to hitch a sajjling to the 
rear of his wagon and let it trail on the ground behind. (I can hardly think of the 
pioneer wagoners as being less resourceful.) I am told, furthermore, by men who 
know l)oth crossings, that, restoring "the forest jjrimeval" to its ])robabIe condi- 
tion in Boone's time, it would l)e more feasible for wagons to cro.ss at Duffield than 
at Pattonsville because of the loose rock and the cliffs at the latter crossing. The 
descent of the mountain on the Wallens Creek side is less steep than on the Duffield 
side. Tliere are no dirt's and very few stones. Pasture fields now exteml very nearly 
to the to]) of the mountain. From the point where the road began the ascent of the 
mountain on this side to the point where it reached Wallens Creek on the Lee 
County side is nearly due west. 

I once thought that Henderson's wagons must be sent across the mountain 
at Stickleyville in order to enable them to reach Martin's Cabin. I am not sure 
about it now. The more I investigate the matter, the more it appears to me that 
not only the foot and horseback travel crossed at Duffield, but, also such wagon 
travel as there was, prior to 1804, crossed there. There is some reason for thinking 
that the Pattonsville crossing was made use of in constructing a road to Big Moc- 
casin Cap in 1S04. This furnished rather more direct comnumication with the 



[no] 



Tlic fi'ildcnifx.s l\(t(td to Kcuiiich 



'!! 



( 'uiiil)crliiii(l ( l;i|) .-I iii()(lci-ii liTadcd roail lias liccii liiiill wliicli, for 
tlie iiiDst ])arl, is in llic location of tin- old road. Iv\cci)l wlinv this 
modem road is hnilt upon it, the old road usually is xisililc ])arallelinii; 
it. One mile hcyond the point called Boone's I'afh. whei-e there is 
only a small connti-y store that was fornu-rly a |)ost oliice, and half a 





In I '..well Vj.lley 

mile east of the \illa.iie of Kose Hill, the road ci'ossed Martins Creek. 
]\Iartin"s Station was located a mile south of llns |)oint. 

Martin's Station was the im])ortant station on the road between 
the Block House and Cralt Orehanl. It w;is the station of ('ai)tain 

inlial)itaTits of I.ce w Im rc>i(lc(l dii this side (if t'ciwcll's iiKniiitain. I.ci' ( 'on lit y was 
organized in 17!)"2. 'I'lic road orders of tlic old Lee County Court, iniglit, tlierefore, 
furnisli some data on the Kentucky Path. It is my piirjjose to search tliese records 
some time in the future, l)ut I do not know when. I am of theoi)inion, liowever, that 
wliatever data tlie I.ee Court records may hold, will tend only to confirm, not to 
cliange, the location which you have assigned to the road from Moccasin (lap to 
.lonesville. 

Letter of Prof. R. M. .Vd.iinglou, Dec .'(). iil'.'O 
Coiuparc also .1. II. 1 )uft"s early map of Boone's route Pi Kciiliicky through 
tiiis region. Draper M.-s. (iCSil. 



The Ditdlhd LdCdIidii of flic liodil 



[111] 



Joseph [Martin, who was ^'i^ii■illia Af^eut fof Iii<Haii Affairs, and the 
most influential person l)otli with tlie Indians and with the scattered 
settlers in Powell Valley. Martin was livino; at this station when 
Boone and Henderson made their journeys in 177.5, and the station 
is also recorded by lirown and hy Filson in }7>>'i and by Speed in 




Stone House 



17,S4. six or seven miles northeast of ('innherland (iap 
l'roI)al)le site of "Big Spring" 



1790. although about 17S'-2 Cai)tain Martin transferred his head- 
([uarters to Long Island in the South Fork of the Ilolston. The 
location of ^lartin at this point, almost half way between the Ken- 
tucky and Holston settlements, and within twenty miles of Cum- 
berland Gap, was a very im])ortant matter for the early travelers. 
We find Henderson utilizing Martin as his agent on the road, and 
he was a sort of relay station between the eastern and western 
settlements. 

{'Beyond Martin's Station llu- road passed into the valle\' of 
Indian Creek and followed down this \allc\- almost lo CumlKM-laud 



[112] 



Tlic inidcnii'ss Road Id KciiliicJcii 



da]). Near one of the ci-ossiiiiis of Indian Creek, ahoiit I'i miles 
from Cumherlaiid (iap, is said to have occurred the Indian attack 
upon Boone s party, of Octoher 177.'5 when his son James Boone and 
six otlier memlx'i-s of the parly were killed, a disaster so i^reat that 
the party was compelled to ahandon the trip to Kentucky.' 




Kesidonce in Lower Powell ^'aliev. on Wilderness Road 



Twelve miles from Martin's Station and (i miles from ('umher- 
lanfl (iap was "Bii^' Sj)rini;."" From this {)oint to Eni;lish"s Station, 
three miles from ( rah ( )rchard — 1'20 miles — tliere was not a station. 
Here the traveler had to traverse I'.iO miles of uninhahilcd wilderness. 

From Boone's Path to (umherland (laj) down Powell Valley 

was the best stretch of the Wilderness Koad. Here the traveler 

])assed down a fi-rtilc wide rollini; valley with the his;h ruiii^c'd ridi^e 

of ('iunl)erland [Mountain close at hand. 'I'lie mountain ranye 

dominates the scenery and, as William Brown \ividly described it, 

"affords a wild romantic pros])ect." 

'Tills location of the disaster to Boone's party in 1773 so near ('unil)erlaiid 
(Jap can liardly be correct. This jjoint is nearly 60 miles by the trail from the Clinch 
River, and in the aceovmt of this occnrrenee it is said tiiat members of the party 
went Ijack to the Clinch for help and retnrned within a day. On Dnff's ma]). 
Draper Mss. (iCSi), at the point where he has Boone's ronte crossini;- Wallen 
Ridge, he has indicated this ))()int as the site of this massacre. This seems to be 
a mucli more likely location for it. 



Chapter Vl 

The Detailed Location of the /?r>(7<r/— (Continted) 

from Cumberhuid Gap to Crab Orchard 

and Booneshorouffh 

N EARING Cunil)erl;ni(l (iaj) from the east tlie road started 
around the foot of Cuinberhind iNlountaiu tliroui^h the valley of 
Station Creek, a small branch of Indian Creek. It went up this 
valley through a dee]) ravine and i)assed from it over Poor Valley 
Itids^e at Poor ^'alley Gap. Poor Valley' Riflge is a ridge which 
jiarallels Cumberland Mountain for thirty or forty miles north 
from Cuml)erland (iap. From Poor ^'alley Gap the road passed 
along the base of Pinnacle Mountain in the valley of a branch of (iap 
Creek. It struck what is now Colwyn Street of Cumberland Gap 
Village and passed alcmg this street to a ])oint al)out tifty feet east of 
the present railroad station of Cumberland Gap. At tliis j)oint. the 
road for the only time dij)s into Tennessee for a few liundrc<l yards. 
Just beyond the railroad station the road began the sharp climb 
of the Gap proper. The old road ascended the (iap (m the north 
wall of the ravine. The earliest wagon road ascended by numerous 
turns back and forth until it got half-way up to the (iap. and then, 
by a very steep path along the wall of the ravine, it reached the (iap 
itself. Going down from the west side of the (iap the road followed 
the south wall of the ravine down a course of similar character to 
that on the east side of the (iap. The track of this old roail is now 
well preserved, and can lie followed on both the east side and the 
west side of the (iap. It was narrow, excessively steej) in places, 
and so stony that one wonders how a wagon ever got over it. Before 

ll.S 



[lU] 



The WUdciDcss Uddd to Kcntiick 



■h-ii 



this road was huilt the trail for horses and men went up to the Gap 
l>y a shorter and steeper clinil) on tlie nortli wall of the ravine lead- 
ing to the (iap. Approaehin.i; the (lap from the east the old foot 
trace is still visiiile in a path at ])resent in use. 1 could find no 
trace of the old footpath on the west side of the Gap. 




'I'lie Wilderness Road coiuini; down Poor X'alley into ( ■innl)erlan(l Ciaji \ iiiage 
(Colwyn St.). .Inst before the (iap comes into view 

('uml)erhiud Ga]) itself is a mauniheeul mountain pass, worthy 
of its importance and its history. On the north side. Fiimacle 
^lountain rises ahout }»(»(! feet al)o\e the (lap; tlu' first (i(»() or 
TOO feet at an aH<;le of aliout (HI dciirees; tin' last v'OO or .'JOd 
feet a vertical cliff of white limestone. The mountain risiuii on the 
south side of the Gap is neither so hiyli nor so forliiddiny. hut is still 
iniposin.o'. The vertical white limesjoin' clilf sc\eral hundred feet 
in height, which makes the u|)|)er tliircl of Pinnacle Mountain al the 
(iap, is expo.sed for many miles along the crest of ( 'umhcrlaud Moun- 
tain north of the Gaj). It is this clilf. which one sees as he comes 




Tlie Olil Wilderness Trail at 
( 'uiniierland (iaj) 




The (iap l<)i)kiuii' ea^t. Old Trail cimu's uj) ravine just 
at rii^lit of Stone Marker at left center of picture 



The Dctdilcd L(iC((ti()ii of the lioad 



[119] 



down Indian Civck tliroiiiili I'nwoll \'nll('y, tlial makes tlie ranifo 
so impressive and so forl)iddinf>'. 

To the traveler coming down Powell \'alley by tiie old i-oad the 
(iap is invisible. It was oidy after he has jiassed over Poor \ alley 
liidge and around the foot of Pinnacle IMountain and arrived at its 





'I'lie first \ irw of Ciiinberlaiid (iap from tlie east, on the Wilderness Koail.just after 
the road Iras roiuided the foot of Pinnacle ^lountain 



very base that the (iap itself comes into view. The only point at 
which <me yets a good distant view of the Gaj) from its cast side is 
from the soutlieast where the j)resent town (d' ('uml)erland (iaj) is 
located. 

Coming down the west side of the moiinlain from ("umbcrlaiid 
Gap the road })assed towards the south around the base of the 
mountain behind the jjresent old l)rewery at jNliddlcsboro, Ky., and 
emerged into the valley of Big Yellow Creek at the i)oint where tlic 
town of ]\Ii(ldlesl)oro now stands. ' Here there is a valley five or six 
niilc-s in diameter which forms a tine ])ark, surrounded on all sides 



[l-JO] 



The fnitlcnicsf; Road to KcHtiic},-, 



by inouiitaiiis. \'cll()\v Creek has eut the only t'asy exit from this 
valley. 

When the first explorers passed through ( 'iiiiilierland (iap they 
found the path which the Indians had made. This was the Warriors 
Path, the Indian i)atli from Lake f^rie to the Tennessei-. From the 
fiap it went west thrt'e miles aloni;' Yellow (ret'k and then straight 




( 'imilicrlaiici Kiver wliere tlie Wildonu'ss R(i;i 
meets it tfoint; west 



nortli, still along ^ ellow ('I'eek for most of the drslanee. to the ( iim- 
l)erland Kiver at Pine [Mountain (iaj). Just ln'yon<l Pint' Mountain 
Gap. at the month of Straight Creek, it left the ( umix'i'laud River, 
turning noi-th up the valley of the left fork of Sti'aight (reek and 
through till' mountains to the mouth of the Scioto l{i\'cr on the 
Ohio. The Wildci-ucss Road followed The A\aniors Path until it 
forded the Cumhci'laiid heyond Pine Mountain (iaj). It went down 
\ellow ('I'cek to a i)oint where Yellow ('reck turns al>ru])lly to the 
east to go around Rocky Face ]\[ountain. 'I'hc road left the creek 
here and sa\'e<l se\'eral nules in its course [d tlic < nnilicrland l>y 
climhing o\-ci' a gaj) on the west side of Rocky I'acc. It continued 
then straight north nnlil it reached the ('umlicrland Rixcr at the 



The Detailed Loedtion of the Hoitd [T-^1] 

mouth of Big Clear (ivek. A few hun(h-e<l yards beyond the moutli 
of Big Clear Creek there is one of the Boone Trail markers. The 
road followed along the west side of the Cuniherlanfl River for a mile 
and passed thn)ugh Pine Mountain at the ga]) at the ])resent site of 
Pineville. This is a fine gorge, at its narrowest point so narrow that 
the mountains come down to the river on either side. It fm-nishes 
a perfect ])assway through this mountain range and the only one 
giving access to the west. The road forded the Cumberland at tlie 
north end of the present town of Pineville. It went along the south 
bank of the river until it found a gravel bar, and then turned back 
on itself at an angle of al)out 4.) degrees, and went upstream across 
the rivei' by a long. l)ut shallow. for<l to its north bank. This foi-d 
is situated about '2(10 yards below the present wagon bridge which 
crosses the river from the town of l'ine\ille to the freight station. 

The ford of the Cumberland and Cumberland Gaj) are. to my 
mind, the two most interesting landmarks on the Wilderness Road, 
and the stretch of the roail between these two jxiints is the most 
interesting part of the road. .\t the ford of the Cumbi'i'land the 
Warriors Path met the Wilderness Road. This path started in the 
Indian villages around Sandusky, on Lake Erie, |)assed through the 
Indian \illages on the S(ioti>, ci'ossi'd the ()hio at the mouth of the 
Scioto, and made its way almost directly south across the mountains 
of Eastern Kentucky. It came down Straight Creek, hugging the 
foot of Pine ^Mountain until it found the ga]) made by the Cumber- 
land. ; This path was the highway of connnunication between the 
Indians north of the Ohio and those of the Tennessee country. Xo 
one can estimate how long the ])atli which the Wilderness Koad 
approi)riate<l from Cumberland (iaj) to the ford of the Cumbei'land 
had l)een the Indians* highway. As one looks at the foi-d, which is 
probably little changed from its old character, he can. in his mind's 
eye, see these Indians picking their way in single file across the fonl; 
then he can follow them, ti'ailing along the river-bank through Pine 



[rJ'i] The JJ'ihJcnic.s.s liixid to Kciifiickij 

^Mountain (iap, ii:oing over the path ah)ng the west of Rocky Face, 
up the marshy valley of Yellow Creek and finally climbing over the 
great Gap itself to the headwaters of llu- Tennessee. 

After them he can see the pioneers going over the same trail 
in the opposite direction: T'p the mountain to Cumberland Gaj) 
they struggled, then down Yellow Creek, and then across the same 
old ford: Walker and his little party, then the early hunters and 
land-lookers — Finley, Scaggs. Stoner, llarrod, Boone, ^Fc.Vfee and 
the rest of them. — and after them the pioiu-ei- settlers, until 1(10, 000 
of them and more had gone by this i)atli through the gateway to 
the land of Kentucky. It was a real thoroughfare. 

This section of tlic road from the eastern slope of the Cumber- 
land ^Mountain Range at Cund)erhind (iaj) to the west side of Pine 
]\rouulain and the Cumlierland River is tin- gateway to Kentucky 
from the southeast. It and the section l)ctu('cn Stock Creek and 
\ alley Station, in \ irginia, are the ])arts of the road which cross 
over the ranges of mountains that iutei'fcrc with east and west 
travel. When the ti'avelcr had ])assi'(l the ford of the ('uml)erlan(l 
he had surmounted the great natural obstacles of his journey. \\i 
equally rough and hard part of his journey was left to him. He was 
not to get out of the foot hills of the Cumbei'lanil [Mountains until he 
reached Crab Orchard or Hcrea. but he had crossed the mountain 
ranges which l)l()cked his route, and he had crossed all of the difficult 
rivers in his course except the Rock Castle, and this was the least 
of his riveis. 

T>ea\'iiig the fonl of the ('umberland the I'oad followed along 
the north baidv of the ( "umberland R.i\-ei' foi' 7 miles. It then turned 
north from the ri\'ei-. and 1 mile fiu'ther reached Flat l>ick. 'i1ic old 
Flat Lick is one of the landmarks on the road. It was to the pioucH'r 
liig Flat Lick in ilistinction from Little Flat Lick at Dutfield. 
The Lick is half a mile north from the pre>eut railroad station called 
Flat Jjick. An old brick house stands there now as a reminder of 





'J'lie Old Fcird of I lie CuinlH-rlaiHl at Fineville 



The Detailed Loaitioii of the Ixaad [l--^] 

tlie (lnys wlieii the road was a thorouiilifare to the east. It is not 
a ])repossessini>' spot. 

Tlie present raih'oatl parallels the oh! i-oad tiom I'iiu'vilie to 
P^lat Lick Station. From that point the railroad follows the ("und)er- 
land to Barhourville, while the Wilderness Road cut across the moun- 
tains and did not touch the j^resent course of the railroad a<>ain 
until it reached London. '•2.) miles farlhei- on. From Flat Lick the AVil- 
derness Road followed the course of the present main road to liarhour- 
ville. hut did not .<>o through Barliourville. It followed the ])resent 
i-oad down Fiuhting Crc-ek until it reached Trace Hranch of Fightinii' 
Creek about o miles east of Barhourville. It turne<l uj> Trace 
Branch of Fighting Creek and went across to Trace Branch of Little 
Richland Creek, these two names, of coiu'se. commemorating the 
old trail.' It went down Little Richland Creek, one of the land- 
marks named by Brown, and crossed it near where it joined Richland 
Creek. One mile further west it crossed Richland Creek, another 

'It was the ■■'rracc" tiiat is referred to in Filsons and otlier journals; not tlie 
road. 'I'lie road did not become a reality — tliat is. was not estat)lished, until 
after the passage of tlie Act of t7!).). The "trace" was cut out in 177o, and was 
traveled by the immigrants until the establisliment of tlie road. Your conclusion, 
therefore, witii regard to the points on RolMUson's creek and Laurel river, where 
the "trace" referred to in the journals crossetl those streams, is correct- it was 
more southwest than the point at which the "road" crossed tho.se streams." 

However, F^ilson's journal is correct when it says "Down Richland Creek S 
miles," as to course, but not as to distance. This, however, refers to the "trace and 
not to the road." The "Trace" .struck Richland Creek waters at the head of the 
"Trace branch of Little Richland creek" and traveled down that })ranch to its 
nioutli, a distance of aliout four miles, and then (low n Little Richland Creek jjrojjcr, 
about 1' 2 niiles. crossing it about one half mile above its mouth, and then crossing 
Rig Richland Creek about a mile above the mouth of Little Richland Creek. 

The "trace" then ke])t on the west side of Big Richland Creek, and up the 
Middle Fork of Richland creek, and up the west ])rong of the Middle Fork, crossing 
on to Lynn Cam]) waters just west of the tunnel of the L. & X. R. R., south of 
(Jrays station, and then running to th(> east of (irays, cast of Corbiu, and then to 
London. 

The "road" suljsequently established, (jccui)ied no ])art of the "trace ' as here- 
inabove located, but was northeast of the "trace." 

(Letter of Mr. Thos. 1). Tinsley, I'Vb. .y V>1\) 



[126] The Wilderness Road to Keiitiieh-// 

one of the landmarks, and then went uj) the west side of liiclilaiid 
Creek for two miles to the mouth of the ^Middle Fork of Richland 
Creek. At this point it diverjied from what is the i)resent road to 
London and went up the ^Middle Fork of Richland Creek along a 
road which is still preserved and j)assed into the present Laurel 
County through Lynn Camj). Thence it followed the course of an 
old road wliich is still in use and crossed Hohinson Creek, one of the 
road's landmai'ks, ])assed Raccocm Spring on Rol)inson Creek, crossed 
Laurel Rixci- and came into the ])resent main traveled road to 
London, a couple of miles southeast of the present station of F\irrist on. 
From this point it followed approximately the present main road 
through London to the village of Pittshnrgh. From the railroad 
station of Fittsl)nrgh to Hazel Patch the Wilderness Road did not 
follow the course of the present main traveled i-oad between these 
points, hut took a much more direct course than the ])resent road or 
the railroad along a road which still exists. Hazel Patch, preserved 
in the ])rcscnt station of Hazel Patch, was one of the chief landmarks 
of the road. From this ])oint the old road did no! follow down the 
valley of Hazel I'atch. or Rock Castle ('reck, as does lh(> railroad. 
hut again saviMl distance and went directly aci'oss towards Livingston 
over Wililcat Mountain. The road reached Rock Castle River just 
helow the present station of Li\ingston. The old ford which crossed 
the Rock (astle is ahont 40(1 yards down the rix'ci' from the present 
railroad liridge. and is still in use. \\ this foi-d. as at the ford of 
the Xortli Fork of the Holston. and of I'owell l{iver. the road forms 
a sharj) cui-xc. it apprctaches near the river, then turns down 
stream until it tinds a shallow where it crosses, then goes l)ack for 
4(10 or .500 yards along the other hank. 

From Li\iiigston the ^^ ilderness Road is re])res(Mited hy the 
])resenl main road ihi-ough Mt. \ ernon and Hrodhead to (ral) 
Oi'chard. thence to Stanford. ])an\ille. and Ilarrodshnrg. Its 
genei'al route is that of the railroad hetween these jxiinls Knt it is 



The Detailed Loealioii of the Road [1-7] 

shorter by a very coiisiderahk' distance, for, as usual, it fakes tlie 
shortest line, making almost no concession to the (hfhculties wliich 
the raih'oad finds it best to go aroimd. 

Between Hazel Patcli and Brodhead there was another trail. 
This trail was found liy Scaggs in 17(59. and. according to the tradi- 
tions of the district, was followed by Boone and John Finley on their 
first tri]) to the Falls of the Ohio in 1774. It seems to me also that 
the entries in Brown's journal indicate that it is probable that this 
trail was followed as late as 178'-2 when Brown made the journey 
reconleil in liis journal. This route left the otluM' route of I lie ^^ il<ler- 
ness Road at Hazel Patch, foUowetl down the valley of Hazel Patch 
or Rock Castle Creek, and crossed the river near the mouth of this 
creek; then it followed down the west bank of Jlock Castle River 
to the mouth of Scaggs" Creek. Brown's journal gives Scaggs" 
Creek as five miles from the ford of the Rock Castle which would 
accord with this route, while Scaggs" Creek is nowhei'c touche(l liy 
the other route, and is nowhere within five miles of the ford of the 
Rock Castle at Livingston. This route followed up Scaggs' Creek; 
then uj) the East Fork of Scaggs" Creek to its head; then ])aralleling 
at about a mile distant the other road it struck the head of a fork 
of Nigger Creek near the station of INIaretburg. It followed down 
this creek paralleling the i)resent railroad to the head of Dix Ri\er 
at Brodhead. This trail is i-epresented by a roail now in use, 
except for a few miles. 

The site of the ])resi'nt village of Brodheail was a very im])ort- 
ant point to the pioneer traveler. Here Nigger Creek joins Boone's 
Fork to .form Dix River. This point was in the journals of the 
pioneer traveler the "Head of Dick's River" — and Dix River Hows 
into the Kentucky River. Between Mt. \'ernon and Brodhead (he 
route ])assed over the watershed between the Cumberland an<l 
the Kentucky, and at Brodhead the pioneer was on the streams 
which reached the countr\' that was his goal. ^^ est of Bi-odhead 



[128] The Wilderness Rixid fn Kent nek// 

the road followed alonii' the west side of the \;dley of l)i\ River for 
.5 miles, and then, leaving the river, il went northwest to what the 
pioneers called "The (rah Orchard." Kiyht miles from Brodhead 
was sitnated Enylisirs Station, the most easterly ontpost on the 
road to the Kentucky settlements; and at the Cral) Orcliard. which 
is ;5 miles heyond Faiiiiish Station, and which is now re])resented l)y 
the ^•illa.^e of (rali ( )rchard. it had reache(l practically the termimis 
of what the pioncei' rci^arded as the \N ildei'ncss Koail. (rah Or- 
cliard was the real wt-stern terminus of the ro;id as the Hlock House 
was its real eastern terminus. 

From the Block House to Enuiish's Station the road ran 
continuously thi'ouL;li the mountains. At Kuiilishs Station it 
emerged fi'om the foothills upon the Blue (Irass Plateau of ('entral 
Kentucky. 

Ti-axcliui; west from the ]}lock House the ])ioneer had these 
stations: l''ai'iss" Station, at ]\[occasin (la|): Scotts Fort, just he- 
yond I'owell Moimtain; \ alley Station just heyond Wallen Hidge; 
Martins Station, ill miles fi-om ( umherland (ia|). Tliese were very 
small jxists struiiglini; in the wilderness, hut they usually alfonled 
meager sup])lies of tlour. or hacon. or salt, and resting ])laces for 
the traveh'r. Belween ]\Firtin"s Station and Fnglish Station and 
the (rah Oi-chai'd. the road ti-avei-sed "'the (ii-eat \\ ihlerness. "" 
The traxcler couM rely u])on no settlements for ])rotection against 
the Indians, and his only chance for food and other su])plies was 
what he couhl carry on his pack saddle oi- in his own |)ack. or take 
from tlu' wildcrnt'ss. No w heeh'd \-chicle could |)ass o\'ei' this ])ath. 
It was a hi-idle path foi' -20 years aftei- the settlements hegan. and 
for ;? years after Keiducky hecame a stale. It was not only a hridle 
])ath ])resen.ting the difhculties of mountain tra\'cl. hut for 1.) years 
after the settlement of Kentucky it was heset hy the constant danger 
of hostile Inilian attacks. .Vnd along almost e\-ery fool of its course 
lay the o|)))ort unity for anihush. 



The Dchiilcd hocdtioii of the liudd 



[1-J9] 



From Cral) ()rcli;ir(l to Harr<)ilsl)iirii tlu' road is represented 
to-day by the i)resenl pike ^oiiiii tlirouiili Stanford and Danville. 
Eleven miles heyond Cral) Orchard was Logan's Old Fort, or St. 
Asaph. This was establislied by Loyan after he se])arated from 
Henderson near the Rock Castle in 177.> and was only a few weeks 
yonnii'er than Booneshorouyli. It stood at the site of the present 
waterworks pumping station at Stanfoi-d. The location of the roail 
from the Hock Castle to Logan's Fort, wliich became the main road 
to Kentucky, was made by Logan. Fourteen miles further on was 
Harrods Station, and (i miles l)eyond this was Ilarrodsburg, the 
oldest settlement in Kentucky. 

At Ilarrodsburg the early ])ioneer was in the heart of the Kentucky 
.settlements, and although the road continued on through IJardstowu 
and the Salt Works near Shephardsville to the Falls of the Ohio, 
Harrodsburg was the end of the trail/ From the lilock House to Har- 
rod.sburg, according to Brown's Estimate, the distance was 'i'^t'i miles. 




Till' Ford <>l' thf Rock Castle at luoiitli of I'arkcr's Creek 



[130] 



Tlic IWildcnu'ss Hand fa Kciifiic}^ 



■// 



The Thail To BooxKsBOHorc;!! 

The trail lo Booiicshoroui^li left the i-oad lo (rali Orchard 
soiiu'wliere neai- London or AUaniont: Ihcii it struck iioiih across 
the hills to the head of Parker's Creek. Thence it went down 
Parker's Creek to its mouth wliere it crossed Rock Castle River; 




III Tidiiiii! Stone \ a 



then al)out hall' a mile down Rock (astle River. Then leaxiny Rock 
Castle River it went north to Trace Branch of Crooked Creek; then 
down Trace l?ranch to ( rookeil ('reck and down Crooked Creek to 
its mouth where the trail reache<l and ci'ossed Roundstone (reek. 
It then went up the \alley of Round Stone to Boone's (iaj). It 
crossed thi-ouyh Boone's (Jaj) and i-eaclie(| the head of Biushy Fork 
of Silver Creek which Hows into the Kentucky River. .Vt Boone's 
(ia|) it tlurs ])assed o\-ei- the watei-shed hetween the Cumlierland 
Ri\er and the l\cntuck\' Ri^■er. 



The Detailed I.oeatiou of the limul [131] 

The trace from London to Boone's Gap was througli a rough 
mountainous country. The valley of Round Stone is a narrow 
valley, sometimes narrowing to a ravine, sometimes widening out 
for a mile or more in width, with fertile bottom lands. Boone's Gap 
is a narrow ])ass through the Big Hill Range of the foot hills of the 
Cuniherland Mountains, and is the best passage for many miles 
through this range. It is now used by the railroad. The climb to it 
from the valley of Rountl Stone is steep and rough, but not very long, 
and the same characteristics apply to the descent from the gap to the 
valley of Bi-ushy Fork. 

From Boone's (lap to Berea tlie road followed down lirushy 
Fork through a valley similar to that of Round Stone. Just south 
of Berea the road left the valley and went up over the plateau on 
which Berea is situated. Reaching the site of Berea the road passed 
to the west of the present scjuare; then down from the ridge to a 
valley west of Berea and down this valley to the valley of Silver 
Creek jjroper. The old road which is now abandcmed for the most 
part, persists as a well marked trace, where it is not in use as a road, 
for many miles north of Berea. From a ])oint a mile north of Berea 
it is an abandoned road which runs north througli the valley and 
comes again into the present highway at Terrill. From Terrill the 
old road is represented by the jjresent highway to Fort Fstill. There 
the ])rescnt highway goes oH' to the left of the old trail. The old 
trail, which is now al>andoned. went directly north until it met the 
head of Central Fork of Otter Creek. It thus passed al)out two 
miles east of Richmond. It followed down the Central Fork of 
Otter Creek and down Otter Creek in the general location of the 
present road from Richmond to Boonesl)orough to the Kentucky 
River, and one mile down the river it ended at Boonesborough. i 



BOONESBOROL GH 




Tilt' \ alloy ill which Buoiic,sljuiuu,i>h stuod. The site of the Fort is marked by the 
wliite wall beyond the eighth cottage from the right. The Kentucky River is 
_^^ beyond the row of cottages 




l.H," 'iie-~l.> 'rijU:;li. i he >|)riiii; 




Tlic l,i(k .'il li..oii.'sl,.,iMii,o|i 




I'll!' Ivcntiickv HhiT at Booneshorouirh 



^-.^i.. 




The Ferry ahovit 40(1 yards below Boonesborougli. Tlie first ferry in Keiiliicky. 

Established l)y Richard Calloway in ()etol)er 177!». under a liraiit 

of the Virginia Legislature 



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